Yakitori and Riesling

Several storms rolled through on Sunday and the last one is bringing relief from the oppressive heat.  Warm days are on the horizon but the high humidity is gone.  In between rain showers on Sunday we did some Japanese grilling.

Yakitori is marinated and grilled chicken pieces, lots of chicken pieces.  For my purpose that meant chunks of chicken thighs, livers and gizzards.  The marinade was Tamari, Mirin, brown sugar, ,chopped garlic and chopped ginger all cooked down for a few minutes.  A small amount was reduced further for a glaze.  The chicken parts marinated for about five hours and were then threaded onto skewers and grilled, the livers for three minutes, the thigh chunks for six minutes and the gizzards for nine minutes.  Just prior to being taken off the grill they were glazed with the ultra-reduced remaining marinade.  The chicken came off the grilled charred and flat out delicious.  Pictured above are the thigh pieces.

Of the three parts the gizzards were my least favorite as they remained tough, though they were tasty.  The livers were better than I expected though if I were not certain of the quality of the chickens I would have cooked them longer.  The thighs were tender, juicy and bursting with flavor.

Instead of Sake we opted for Australian Riesling, in this case a 2006 Grosset Watervale Riesling.  After an initial whiff of kerosene the wine got down to being a serious compliment to the chicken.  The fruit was strong but restrained, the acid was phenomenal and the hint of minerality a perfect match for the less than subtle flavors in the chicken.  Great pairing.