Yakimono - Broiling

Lessons 7 and 8: Yakimono: Broiling

Yakimono, or broiling, is a very early form of cooking that dates from way back. Broadly, yakimono is divided into 2 categories based on how the food is cooked: direct broiling and indirect broiling.

• Direct broiling: cooking food under or over a naked flame, using skewers or wire mesh
• Indirect broiling: foods are cooked by putting a metal pan or stone between the heat source and the ingredients, or by wrapping in paper or foil prior to broiling

Lessons 7 and 8 focus on direct broiling while indirect broiling techniques are covered in Lesson 9.

For either category, proper skewering techniques and controlling the heat are important elements for successful yakimono.

Yakimono preparation methods:

• Salt-broiling: the basis of all other broiling
• Tare-yaki: broiling while basting or brushing on a sauce. “Teriyaki” is a variety of Tare-yaki.
• Tsuke-yaki: broiling foods that have been pickled in a sake paste or miso paste prior to broiling
• “Cosmetic” broiling: this broiling method affects the look of the dish, and involves the use of egg yolk, sea urchin roe, sesame seeds, etc.

Yakimono Techniques:

• Proper yakimono skewering techniques
• Make your own teriyaki sauce the correct way
• Proper and effective presentation of yakimono dishes

Recipes from Lessons 7 and 8:

• Salt-Broiled Ayu
• Broiled Young Spanish Mackerel, Yuan-Style
• Baste-Broiled Hamo Fish
• Broiled Red Tilefish, Wakasa-Style
• Silver Pomfret Miso-zukeyaki
• Barracuda Dengaku with Sea Urchin

With English language mini-texts containing the recipes for all dishes in Lessons 7 and 8 prepared by TSUJI’s professors.