🍢 Yakitori kawa (chicken skin)
Kawa are skewers of chicken skin, folded or wound tightly around the stick and grilled slowly so the fat renders out and the skin turns crisp. They are brushed with tare, the sweet soy-and-mirin glaze, which caramelises over the coals. The result is crunchy outside and slightly chewy inside — one of the richest skewers on a yakitori menu.
Diets
Allergens
Contains (in a typical recipe):
What it is made of
Recipe
Ingredients
- 300 g chicken skin
- 3 tbsp soy sauce
- 3 tbsp mirin
- 1 tbsp sugar
- ½ tsp salt
- 8 bamboo skewers, soaked in water
Method
- Simmer the soy sauce, mirin and sugar for 5 minutes to make the tare.
- Cut the skin into strips about 3 cm wide and thread them onto the skewers in a tight zig-zag. Season lightly with salt.
- Grill over medium heat for 15–20 minutes, turning often, letting the fat drip away until the skin is crisp.
- Brush with tare and grill 1 minute more per side.
- Serve hot.
How to make it lighter
- This is a high-fat skewer: one or two are enough as a treat within a meal.
- Grill slowly on a rack so as much fat as possible drips away.
- Balance it with salt-grilled vegetables or a fresh salad.
History
Kawa means "skin" in Japanese. Using the whole bird is part of yakitori tradition, and chicken skin skewers are a long-standing favourite at yakitori bars across Japan.
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Values are estimates per 100 g for a typical recipe; home and restaurant versions vary. Diets and allergens are worked out from the ingredients of a typical recipe — always check with whoever cooked the dish. Not medical advice. Nutrition data: Me Nutrition dish database v13. How we count →