Chef Michael Schulson Shares a Mouthwatering Skewer Recipe for Labor Day and His Top 5 Grilling Tips
- Celebrity chef Michael Schulson shares a mouthwatering chicken robata recipe and top grilling tips just in time for Labor Day festivities.
Michael Schulson is spilling all his grilling secrets — just in time for Labor Day festivities!
While speaking exclusively with First for Women , the celebrity chef shared a mouthwatering chicken robata recipe for the grill.
"Skewers solve the actual problem with entertaining, which is that the host never gets to sit down," the restaurateur, who likes to grill with friends and family on Labor Day, explains.
"Everything cooks in five to 12 minutes, it's portioned before it hits the fire, and people eat standing up with a drink in their hand," he says. "Nobody's waiting on a big piece of meat to rest. It's how I like to feed people in the summer."
When it comes to certain types of meat that work best on the grill, Schulson says to go with "anything with fat and anything cut small."
"Chicken wings and thighs beat breast every time — fat is what gives you that char without drying out. Lamb is made for fire," he shares. "And I love a filet cut into cubes, because a single steak suddenly feeds four people and everyone gets the crust. Scallops and shrimp too — three minutes and they're perfect."
Schulson Collective
New to the art of grilling? Schulson has First for Women readers covered with his top five grilling tips.
At number one, Schulson says it's important to "skewer everything twice."
"One skewer and your food spins when you flip it — you end up cooking one side twice. Two parallel skewers lock it in place," he explains. "This is the single thing that separates a home cook from someone who's worked a yakitori grill."
His second tip is to "soak your bamboo skewers" for "twenty minutes in water," and cautions not to skip that: "otherwise they burn through, and you lose dinner into the coals."
Thirdly, Schulson advises, "put your glaze in a spray bottle," as he notes: "It's the trick I use at the restaurants, and it changed how I grill at home. A brush drags and clumps; a spray bottle lays down a thin, even coat you can build in layers."
Also important, Schulson says, is to put the "sauce at the end, not the beginning."
"Any good glaze has sugar in it, and sugar burns," he states. "Grill your food nearly through on clean heat, then start glazing in the last few minutes."
Lastly, Schulson instructs that it's wise to "brine your chicken."
"An hour in salted water — overnight if you can — and chicken goes from dry to genuinely juicy," he reveals. "It's the cheapest upgrade in cooking."
If the idea of grilling still sounds daunting, head to Schulson's newest restaurant in NYC, Double Knot, where "the robata grill is the heart of it — binchotan charcoal, skewers going all night."
"It's exactly the cooking in these recipes, which is why I wanted to share them," he remarks. "There's also a cheesesteak bao on the menu, because I'm from Philadelphia and I couldn't help myself."
Istock
Chicken Robata
Serving Size: 2 people (4 skewers)
Ingredients:
8 Chicken wing flaps (the wing with two bones inside)
1 cup water
¼ cup salt
8 bamboo skewers
Salt and pepper to taste
½ cup Yakitori Sauce, recipe follows
Instructions:
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In medium bowl, place wings, water, and salt for four to 24 hours
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Place first wing on two bamboo skewers, then add another wing to the two skewers. Repeat procedure with all wings
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Heat grill to medium high. Season chicken with salt and pepper, and spray grill with non-stick spray. Grill the skewer for approximately 12 minutes (5-6 min on each side), until lightly charred, making sure to brush or spray the wings with the sauce as they are grilling, and make sure to turn them often
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Garnish each skewer with chopped scallion
Yakitori Sauce
Ingredients:
2 tbsp oil
2 shallots whole
1 tsp ginger, sliced
2 cloves garlic, whole
½ cup sake
¾ cup soy sauce
½ cup mirin
¼ cup sugar
Instructions:
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In medium sized pan, heat the oil
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Add the shallots, ginger, and garlic and char till brown
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Add the sake and cook out the alcohol
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Add the remaining ingredients and simmer for 5 minutes
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Strain and set aside
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