yaki nin-niku

[panterazero]

I want to prepare yaki nin-niku by marinating, skewering and grilling peeled garlic. But when I've had the dish in restaurants it has an amazing top note, almost beef-like and slowly subsiding to the mellowness of sautéed whole garlic. Apparently many Japanese restaurants are accustomed to preparing this without rigorous directions, the only recipe that I can find refers to the garlic cloves as being "basted with miso" which I don't think is the whole story, and the customary yakitori marinade for chicken doesn't seem quite right either. Does anyone here know how this appetizer is prepared before grilling? Thanks -- /KC

[Hiroyuki]

Sorry, I'm not familiar with the type of yaki nin'niku you described. I did some googling but failed to find any recipe that matches your description. Could you provide some more information?

[panterazero]

Thanks, Hiroyuki, maybe I'm using a name for this appetizer that's not customary in Japan, although it was the name on the menu in a Japanese restaurant in California. It was simply peeled cloves of garlic that had been threaded on a bamboo skewer and grilled, until the surface was covered in brownish-black tiny blisters. What I'm trying to find out is what the marinade was, whether it was miso, or miso and dashi, whether there was citrus in it, and so on; but the only yakitori recipe I can find in any of my Japanese cookbooks is for chicken, and I'm not sure the marinade would be the same. Any ideas? Thanks again. /KC

[Hiroyuki]

I found one recipe for miso sauce for yakitori:

1/2 cup (i.e., 100 ml) soy sauce

4 tbsp mirin

4 tbsp sugar

1 tsp miso

Combine them together and bring to a boil.

Dip skewered chicken in the sauce and grill.

Probably, the sauce can be used to make yaki nin'niku, too.

from here (Japanese only)

There should be more recipes, and I will post them if I find them.

[panterazero]

There should be more recipes, and I will post them if I find them.

thank you! I have a ready and consistent supply of peeled garlic, so I will try the recipe as you give it here, and look forward to further developments.

/KC

[Blether]

I've spent 18 years in Jaspan and the only yaki-ninniku I've come across is in Yakiniku (Korean BBQ) restaurants, where it's peeled cloves of garlic in a thin layer of oil in a foil dish. The dish goes on the grill where you cook your meat and everything else, where it bubbles away for a while. It's ready when you think it's ready, or when it's just nicely cooked. I think the oil may be sesame, but usually I'm concentrating on the MMM, MEAT. Sorry.

This yakininniku may well be a specialty of the chef. My favourite sushi place (now closed, sob !) used to serve yaki-miso - a mixture of miso with finely-chopped negi, a little chili and whatever other magic the master thought was good, used to coat both sides of a flat wooden spoon, then grilled over a flame till golden in places. Very tasty and a great drinks accompaniment, but not something you see on menus very often, if ever. My recommendation for understanding your meaty flavour would be to ask the folks who serve it, if you can :-)

[_john]

my guess is that the cloves are put on skewers and marinated/pickled in miso mixed with sugar, soy sauce, mirin, and probably sesame oil. when someone orders they are pulled out of the marinade, some of the marinade lightly wiped off and then grilled. i've also never had this dish. I bet if you threw the cloves in a tub of ssamjang it would be really good.