Teriyaki Chicken Skewers

These use my homemade teriyaki sauce, which is not authentic. I know. Don't come after me. This is just how I make it and I like it this way.

The sugar in the teriyaki is what makes these good and it is also what will ruin them. It caramelises fast and then burns, so the searing happens at the end, once the chicken is already cooked through. Most grilling works the other way round. This one does not.

Ingredients

• 1kg chicken breast
• 1 batch homemade teriyaki sauce, cooled

Equipment

• 10 to 12 skewers, about 20cm
• Basting or pastry brush
• Barbecue or grill
• Meat thermometer, if you have one

The Simple Process

1. Prep: Make the teriyaki sauce and let it cool completely in the fridge. Raw chicken should never go into warm sauce, because anything between fridge temperature and hot is where bacteria grow fastest.
2. Cube: Cut the chicken into cubes of 2 to 2.5cm. Whichever size you pick, keep them all the same. A tray of mixed sizes gives you some pieces raw and some dry, and no way to fix it.
3. Marinate: Put the cubes in a bowl or bag with enough cold sauce to coat them. Keep the rest of the sauce aside for grilling. Cover and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes, up to 2 hours. Longer than 4 hours and the salt starts to firm up the meat.
4. Skewer: Lift the chicken out of the marinade and thread the cubes on, leaving a small gap between them so the heat gets all the way round. You will need 10 to 12 skewers, depending on cube size.
5. Grill: Heat the barbecue to medium. Grill for about 5 minutes a side, brushing the skewers every time you turn them. You can use the leftover marinade from the bag here, because it cooks on the heat, but throw it away once the chicken is nearly done. It touched raw chicken and it never goes on cooked food.
6. Check: After about 8 minutes, cut one cube open. No pink anywhere, and the juices should run clear. With a thermometer, you are looking for 74°C (165°F) in the middle of a cube. If it is not there yet, keep going and check again.
7. Sear: Brush once more with the sauce you set aside, then turn the heat to high and give the skewers 30 to 60 seconds a side, until the glaze catches and darkens. Do not walk away. The sugar goes from caramelised to burnt in seconds.
8. Rest: Leave them for 5 minutes before serving, so the juices settle back into the meat.

Pro Tip: If you are using wooden skewers, soak them in water for 30 minutes before you thread them, or they burn on the grill.