Grilling Japanese Style
Who would have thought, 20 years ago, that sushi would become an American grocery-store staple? Japanese food is making inroads across the U.S. and has been the most influential cuisine in New York City in recent years, says John Willoughby, executive editor of Gourmet magazine. "Restaurateurs that don't have any connection to Japan are using the techniques, the flavors and the aesthetics of Japanese cooking," says Willoughby.
In this workshop, you can explore the different Japanese techniques for grilling. Learn the fine points of robata grilling, yakitori and teppanyaki, and read about several ingredients that are essential to the Japanese grill chef. Even if your culinary focus is more Western than Eastern, you will find some grilling tips you can use.
The Robata Experience
Legend has it that robatayaki, the practice of grilling skewered foods over charcoal, originated hundreds of years ago among Japanese fishermen. They would grill their catch on the boat and then share their meal with neighboring fishermen, passing food from boat to boat on wooden oars. In Japanese, ro means fireplace and bata means around, or surrounding, so robata describes a meal prepared around the fire.
Today, robata grills are among the most popular dining establishments in Japan. The chef stands behind a horseshoe-shaped counter, with the charcoal grill in front of him. Diners can choose from dozens of offerings arranged in baskets: Kobe beef, chicken, vegetables, tofu. Harking back to robatayaki's origins, the grilled skewers are presented to the diner on a wooden paddle.
As for chicken, the robata chef wastes nothing. Chicken skin, liver, thigh, ground chicken, even chicken tendon is offered for grilling. For the popular negima, pieces of chicken thigh alternate on the skewer with scallions. For chicken tsukune, seasoned ground chicken is shaped into meatballs, then skewered and grilled. Watch Yo Matsuzaki, executive sous-chef of San Francisco's Ozumo, prepare Tsukune with Yuzu Teriyaki Sauce.
Note that the meatballs are boiled first, then finished on the grill. If grilled from the raw state, the surface would burn before the meat cooked through. You'll also see that the tsukune is served with cabbage to cleanse the palate. Can you riff on this concept? Perhaps grilled chicken skewers with a "Japanese cole slaw" in wasabi mayonnaise would work on your menu.
Robata cooking demands pristine ingredients because there are few sauces or condiments to hide behind. The only accompaniments provided, typically, are schichimi (seven-spice mixture), Japanese mustard and ponzu, a citrusy dipping sauce. Some robata items are given a teriyaki glaze to make them glisten. (Teri, in Japanese, means gloss or sheen, and yaki means grilled.) Ozumo, the esteemed Japanese restaurant in San Francisco, makes its teriyaki glaze with equal parts Kikkoman soy sauce and mirin (Japanese rice wine), thickened with cornstarch or potato starch.
Robata chefs don't use tongs. Instead, they monitor the skewers intently and turn them by hand, making sure the bare skewer is never over the charcoal and in danger of burning.
Robata grills are loud, boisterous places where sake and beer flow freely, hospitality abounds, and a diner's glass and plate are never empty.
Making Ponzu
At Ozumo in San Francisco, the chefs make ponzu from one part dashi (Japanese stock), one part Kikkoman soy sauce and one part rice vinegar. Those ingredients are combined and brought to a boil, then cooled and heightened with yuzu juice, a Japanese citrus with a flavor between lime and grapefruit. If you can't get yuzu juice, available bottled in some Japanese markets, substitute a mixture of lemon, lime and/or grapefruit juice.
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