Asian-Style Sizzling Skewers
What’s better than juicy and flavorful chicken? Juicy and flavorful chicken… on a stick.
Ingredients
Kebabs
- 5 bamboo skewers, soaked in water for 30 minutes
- 1 pound boneless-skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1-2 inch chunks, about 10 pieces
- 1⅔ cups diced pineapple, about 10-15 pieces
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 scallion, thinly sliced, optional, for garnish
- 1 teaspoon toasted sesame seeds, optional, for garnish
Sauce
- ¾ cup 100% pineapple juice
- 3 tablespoons reduced-sodium soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon Chinese rice wine or dry sherry
- 3 tablespoons low-sodium chicken broth
- 1 teaspoon toasted sesame seed oil
- ¾ teaspoon garlic powder
- ¾ teaspoon ginger
- ¼ teaspoon red pepper flakes
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch or arrowroot flour
Instructions
- Soak the bamboo skewers in water for 30 minutes so they don’t burn. While the skewers are soaking, preheat the oven to 350˚F., line a baking sheet with parchment paper, and begin to prep the kebabs and sauce.
To prep the kebabs
- Skewer the chicken and pineapple, alternating ingredients, and using 2 pieces of each per skewers. Season with the salt, and generously mist with nonstick oil spray. Make sure there is a little bit of space between each ingredient, to ensure that everything cooks quickly and evenly, and so the sauce can coat all sides.
To make the sauce
- Heat the pineapple juice in a small saucepan over high heat until it comes to a boil. Reduce the heat, and simmer the juice until it reaches about ¼ cup and has thickened. This should take about 7 minutes. In a separate bowl, whisk the soy sauce, rice wine, chicken broth, sesame oil, garlic powder, ginger, and red pepper flakes with the cornstarch until dissolved.
- When the pineapple juice has finished reducing, add in the soy sauce-cornstarch mixture, and cook for 1 minute more, whisking constantly, or until the sauce is thick. Turn off the heat, and remove about ¼ cup of the sauce and set aside to be used for dipping sauce.
To cook the kebabs
- Preheat a large skillet or grill pan over medium heat. Add the skewers to the pan, working in batches if necessary, to ensure that all of the chicken comes in full contact with the pan. Cook the kebabs on the first side for 5 minutes, carefully flip, and generously brush with the sauce on the first side.
- Cook on the second side for another 5 minutes, and then transfer to the prepared baking sheet, flipping again, so the second side of the kebab is facing up. Then, brush the second side with sauce.
- Once all of the skewers come out of the pan and have been brushed with sauce, transfer the baking sheet to the preheated oven and cook for another 7 minutes, or until the chicken is fully cooked through.
- Transfer the kebabs to a serving platter with the reserved dipping sauce, and garnish with scallions, sesame seeds, and optional lemon slices.
Notes
Makes 5 servings. Nutrition provided for 1 kebab.
Nutrition Information per serving
Calories: 190Carbohydrates: 15gProtein: 22gTotal Fat: 3.5g— Unsaturated Fat: 3g— Saturated Fat: 0.5gCholesterol: 65mgSodium: 580mgPotassium: 371mgFiber: 1gTotal Sugar: 6g— Natural Sugar: 6g— Added Sugar: 0gVitamin C: 33mg
Nutrition information is calculated using a leading industry software. That being said, brands can vary, and there may be slight fluctuations in the numbers.