Turkey Yakitori

This month's brief from Turkey Farmers of Canada was to create a delicious recipe for the barbeque or grill. Turkey cuts are fantastic for everyday and special grilling, and indeed, one of my first recipes for them was this delicious Tandoori Turkey.

I wanted to go a little off beat for this recipe and my inspiration struck when I was chatting with my friend Jamie, also known as Cook With Sumo. Jamie was, ahem, yakking about his famous Yakitori Chicken and Miso Yakitori Potatoes, and I, being the opportunist that I am, immediately saw the potential of that yakitori tare (sauce). I love Japanese food, especially Jamie's cooking, and it was a cool opportunity to do something different from my usual.

Jamie and I threw around some ideas for how we could adapt the recipe using turkey cuts. He mentioned that yakitori essentially used all parts of the bird, and there was no reason why I couldn't use anything that grabbed my fancy. Jamie uses thigh meat, but I wanted to keep the recipe simple, so I used breast fillets instead. Jamie also cuts his meat into smaller cubes, and you can certainly do that if you're making traditional yakitori. I sliced the turkey fillets in half, because I wanted to keep them moist on the grill. It certainly worked brilliantly, and we loved the delicious sweet/ salty/ umami taste of this turkey yakitori. 

Before I link to the recipe, I just wanted to talk through ingredients. The ingredients for the yakitori tare were not difficult to source. I found all of them in Superstore, including mirin, which can sometimes be a little difficult to find. If you can't find any of these in your local supermarket, then you'll definitely find them in an Korean or Asian supermarket. Jamie recommended a few brands, which I am listing here, but feel free to go with your own taste. 

Shoyu, or Japanese Soy Sauce - Jamie recommends Kikkoman or Tamari.

Sake - Gekkeikan, most liquor stores will have it. Or Sho Chiku Bai.

Mirin - Kikkoman or Mizkan/ Mitsukan (I used Mitsukan)

In his recipe, Jamie makes the sauce from scratch using bones. You can also do that, if you have a roast turkey carcass. In my recipe I've used broth, again, you can use chicken or turkey.  

Another note, when reducing the sauce, make sure you keep stirring it, every so often, as you don't want to burn it. I actually burnt my first batch, so was very careful the second time... what can I say, you have learn from experience :)

So what are you waiting for? Head on over to the Tasty Turkey website to download your recipe now!

Click for the recipe - Turkey Yakitori

And as usual, if you have any questions, mosey on back and I'll be more than happy to answer them for you :) Enjoy!