Grilled chicken, broccoli, soy beans and wasabi

Anna Maxwell

On a recent trip to Japan I experienced some amazing yakitori, which has inspired me to try to capture those flavours with the dish here. I really loved how every part of the chicken was used — the skin, giblets, liver and thigh. I’ve decided to use just the thigh and hearts for this recipe.

Ingredients

3 Tbsp	Light soy sauce
2 tsp	Runny honey
1 Tbsp	Sesame oil
4 pieces	Chicken thighs, free range, skin on, approx. 150g each (Main)
8	Chicken hearts (Main)
1 head	Broccoli, cut into small florets (Main)
50 g	Fresh ginger, diced
2 cloves	Garlic, minced
5	Shallots, cut into small dice
1 cup	Soy bean oil
1 Tbsp	Rice wine vinegar
1 tsp	White miso paste, from supermarkets
1 dash	Wasabi paste, to taste

Butternut puree

1 large	Butternut, chopped into quarters (Main)
1 cup	Soy beans, deshelled, I normally use frozen edamame beans from the supermarket (Main)
1 cup	Spring onion, sliced
1 sprinkle	Sesame seeds, to garnish

Directions

1. Mix the soy sauce, honey and sesame oil together. Mix through the chicken and hearts, cover and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
2. Saute the broccoli florets in oil to slightly char the outside. Remove from the pan.
3. Place ginger, garlic, shallots and soy bean oil in a small saucepan. Cook over medium heat until soft — do not brown. Cool. Once cool, whisk in rice wine vinegar, miso paste and wasabi.
4. For the puree, roast butternut with a drizzle of olive oil until soft (approximately 30 minutes). Once cooked, blend until smooth using a food processor and season to taste with salt.
5. Heat a non-stick fry pan and cook the chicken, skin side down until golden (careful not to burn it). Finish off the chicken in the oven for 5 minutes at 170C.
6. For the hearts, quickly grill to medium-rare.
7. To serve, spoon butternut puree into centre of 4 plates. Place chicken, skin side up, on top. Mix dressing through broccoli, edamame and spring onions and spoon over chicken. Cut hearts in half and place on top. Sprinkle with sesame seeds.