Yakitori-Style Grilled Vegetable (Homemade Yakitori Sauce)

To Make the Yakitori Sauce

1. Gather all the ingredients for the sauce (tare).
2. In a small saucepan, put all the Yakitori Sauce ingredients: ½ cup soy sauce, ½ cup mirin, ¼ cup sake, 2 tsp brown sugar, and ¼ cup water.
3. Whisk the sauce and bring it to a boil on medium-high heat. Dip a chopstick to measure the height of the sauce.
4. Once boiling, reduce the heat to a gentle simmer and cook, uncovered, until the sauce has reduced to one-third (it will take about 30 minutes).
5. Again, you can measure the height of the sauce with chopsticks. When it‘s done, pour the sauce into an airtight jar and let cool on the counter. The sauce will thicken with a glossy shine as it cools. You can store the jar in the refrigerator for up to 2–3 months.

To Prepare the Skewers

1. Gather all the ingredients, yakitori sauce, and bamboo skewers.
2. King oyster mushrooms: Discard the bottom of 4 king oyster mushrooms (eringi), and cut the mushrooms to 1-inch (2.5-cm) pieces widthwise. You can also slice in half if the stem is too thick.
3. Shiitake mushrooms: Discard the tough stems of 8 shiitake mushrooms. Optionally, you can cut a flower pattern called shiitake hanagiri on the mushroom caps, if you‘d like.
4. Maitake mushrooms: Open 1 package maitake mushrooms and cut off and discard the bottom. Tear the mushrooms into smaller clusters.
5. Mushrooms (Cont.): Thread all the mushrooms with 1 or 2 skewers.
6. Cherry tomatoes and shishito peppers: Thread 12 cherry tomatoes onto skewers. Use 2 skewers for 12 shishito peppers to keep them in balance and easier to flip.
7. Zucchini: Discard the ends of 2 zucchini. Peel the skin alternately to create a stripe pattern. Cut into 1-inch (2.5-cm) pieces. Face the cut side up and skewer them.
8. White parts of Tokyo negi (Japanese long onion): Cut 2 Tokyo negi (naga negi; long green onion) into 2-inch (5-cm) pieces and use 2 skewers.
9. Eggplants: Cut 2 Japanese eggplants right before grilling to avoid discoloration. Discard the tops of the eggplant and cut in half lengthwise.
10. Eggplants (Cont.): Make shallow incisions on the eggplant diagonally (or cut in a crisscross pattern). The intervals should be ⅛ inch (3 mm). Do not cut through. Cut each eggplant into 3 sections.
11. You can see how I skewered each vegetable in the blog post.

To Grill the Vegetables

1. Lay foil-covered bricks about 4 inches (10 cm) apart on the grates of any type of grill to mimic the indirect heat of a yakitori grill (I used 3 bricks on each side). Set the middle burners on a gas grill to medium high, cover, and preheat for at least 15 minutes.
2. Sprinkle salt and freshly ground black pepper on all the vegetables, even though we will brush with the yakitori sauce later. Lay the skewers on the bricks.
3. Grill for 5–10 minutes (depending on the ingredients) until they are brown and tender. Turn occasionally as they cook. The bamboo skewers won‘t get too hot on the bricks and they won‘t get burnt (no need to soak them before grilling).
4. Brush the vegetables and mushrooms with the yakitori sauce. Continue to grill for an additional 1–2 minutes.

To Serve

1. If you like it spicy, serve the grilled vegetables and mushrooms with a sprinkle of shichimi togarashi (Japanese seven spice). Enjoy!

To Store

1. You can keep the leftovers in an airtight container and store in the refrigerator for 3–4 days.