Summertime is barbecue time, of course, but this year, instead of breaking out my trusty Weber, I decided to try my hand at a rustic form of grilling from Japan called robata. Translated as “around the fireplace,” robata taps the ancient Japanese custom of cooking in the irori, the traditional charcoal-fired hearth once found in every home. I first came across robata in restaurants in Japan; the technique still is not very well known in the U.S., but it seemed utterly simple—just charcoal, fish or meat, and salt. It embodies everything that Japanese cooking is about, achieving the sublime through humble means.
To learn how to cook robata, I enlisted the help of fourth-generation chef Jiro Iida, who runs the kitchen of Aburiya Kinnosuke in Manhattan, a branch of a Tokyo restaurant that specializes in this form of grilling. First I watched the masters at work, pulling up a seat along an L-shaped, burnished-wood dining counter. Chefs cooked in the open kitchen on the opposite side, one of them tending a pile of baton-shaped charcoal sitting on a sand-filled platform, the charcoal arranged like a fiery pyramid, a foot tall and glowing bright orange. I watched him flick sea salt on long skewers of fish, chicken, and meat, and plant the ends of the skewers into the sand so they would stand upright around the fire like soldiers at attention. They grilled slowly, with no billowing smoke or shooting flames. The chef waited. And waited. He angled the skewers closer to the pyramid. And waited some more.
The ingredients stood about six inches from the burning pyramid, roasting and caramelizing for about 25 to 30 minutes. The chef turned the skewers every five to ten minutes, feeling for doneness with his fingers. He controlled the heat the traditional way, by sprinkling salt on the charcoal to knock off ash and make it hotter, or by dripping a few drops of water on it to cool it down.
Chef Ida explained that when the food is too hot to touch, it’s ready. Chicken or beef is sliced, while cuts of fish are presented whole. Unlike a thick steak, which needs time to rest after grilling, robata dishes are served immediately, which also keeps the skin crispy. The red snapper I tasted was succulent, tender and perfectly cooked inside, the skin indeed taut and crispy. I added a drop of soy sauce and a little grated daikon to each bite. The chicken was also tender, its natural flavors accented by a delicate, caramelized barbecue sauce. The meat—delicious, soft, rich wagyu—had an irresistible aroma.
After I finished eating, Chef Iida showed me his technique for preparing momoyaki, or grilled chicken thigh, one of his most popular dishes. Grilling robata-style is simple but very subtle, and takes practice to get the feel for it. The process starts with binchotan, traditional oak charcoal that’s expensive—$5 a piece—and so hard that it rings like a tuning fork when you knock pieces together. Coated in downy white ash, it burns steadily for up to five hours. The charcoal is arranged in a pyramid so that its heat gently circulates around the foods. Because it creates this steady, enveloping heat, explained chef Iida, “binchotan develops the umami in ingredients.” Smoke doesn’t play a part in robata; binchotan is almost smokeless, and whatever smoke is produced escapes straight up and doesn’t influence the ingredients.
For his momoyaki, Iida uses the entire attached leg and thigh, deboned with the skin on. This dish is prepared two ways: With salt, lightly sprinkled on just before grilling; or with tare, Japanese-style barbecue sauce (see below). If he adds tare, he grills the chicken without salt and lightly brushes on the tare only at the end, so the sauce accents the meat but doesn’t overpower it. Either way, he sprays the chicken with sake before grilling, which gives it an appealing sheen.
The cooking times in the instructions below are approximate, and will vary by how hot the fire burns, the distance of the chicken to the fire, and other variables. Total cooking time will be about 30 minutes, but you’ll have to judge as you grill. The goal is to slowly grill and caramelize the chicken, the skin turning golden and crispy, the meat becoming tender and moist. The momoyaki is done when the skin is nicely seared and too hot to the touch, and the meat no longer feels pliant.
Momoyaki
Serves 4
4 chicken legs and thighs, deboned but still attached, with skin on
Japanese sea salt (or medium-coarse sea salt)
Tare (see recipe below)
Sake in a spray bottle
8 long metal skewers (14 to 18 inches)
10 pieces binchotan charcoal
14 pieces sumi charcoal (natural charcoal shaped like blocks)
Prepare chicken
Lay the chicken flat on a cutting board, skin side down, thigh side on top. Thread two skewers through each piece chicken, making an “X.” Stretch the chicken as much as possible. Cover and refrigerate until ready to use.
Prepare the robata grill
Important: Always grill outdoors, as binchotan gives off dangerous carbon monoxide, like all charcoal.
Ready a base for the robata: Find a piece of flat ground or use a sand-filled platform. Or simply fill an inexpensive barbecue grill with sand (metal grill removed).
Light the binchotan. This charcoal must be lit separately, then arranged into a robata pyramid once it’s fiery and ash-covered. Korin Trading provides online instructions for lighting binchotan.
Arrange the sumi charcoal blocks into a 12-inch-tall interior foundation that will support the binchotan. Make sure the blocks are compact and tight, so they don’t burn too hot or too fast. Do not light the foundation.
When the binchotan is lit and ready, carefully transfer the coals one by one to the robata with tongs. Carefully arrange the binchotan sticks vertically into a pyramid shape around the sumi charcoal foundation. There can be gaps of up to one inch between the binchotan. The binchotan will naturally ignite the sumi. When the binchotan is coated with downy white ash and the sumi charcoal inside the pyramid is glowing orange, the robata is ready for grilling.
Grill the chicken
Keep in mind that as you grill, you can angle the skewers towards or away from the fire to adjust heat.
Lightly spray chicken with sake. If preparing with salt, lightly sprinkle chicken with salt.
Arrange chicken skewers so they stand upright in a semicircle, about four inches from the pyramid, skin side facing the fire. Rotate chicken about a quarter-turn every five minutes. Remove from fire after 30 minutes; if making the tare chicken, lightly brush with tare at this point.
Remove skewers and cut chicken into six lengthwise pieces. Serve immediately.
(Binchotan, sumi charcoal, and skewers are available online at Korin Trading.)
Yakitori Tare
Makes approximately 1 cup
1 bunch scallions, roughly chopped
2-inch piece of ginger, skin on, roughly sliced
1/2 head of garlic, smashed
3/4 cup sake
3/4 cup mirin
1 1/2 cup Japanese soy sauce
1/2 lb sugar
1 lb chicken bones (carcass, wings, leg and thigh)
Preheat oven to 400 degrees, and then roast the chicken bones for 30 minutes.
Remove bones and place in a stock pot with the rest of the ingredients; bring to a boil over medium heat, then reduce heat to very low and simmer for 3 hours.
When the pot returns to room temperature, strain the liquid and discard the other ingredients. Cool the liquid in the refrigerator overnight.
When ready to use, remove the layer of fat that has accumulated on the surface. Bring to room temperature and serve.