If you’ve ever wandered down a lantern-lit street in Japan and caught that sweet, savoury whiff of chicken fat hitting hot charcoal, you’ll know the vibe: small grills, fierce heat, skewers lined up like soldiers, and a cook who looks mildly offended by the concept of “overcooking”. That’s yakitori culture—and the cooking setup behind it is often a konro grill (sometimes called shichirin/hibachi in Western contexts): a narrow, insulated charcoal grill designed for precision, high-heat grilling. Serious Eats notes these grills can run extremely hot thanks to their insulating construction, especially when paired with binchotan-style charcoal.
The good news: you don’t need a Tokyo backstreet or a restaurant budget to steal the technique. With the right fuel, a simple skewer setup, and a couple of smart seasoning moves (hello, spice blends), you can bring that “clean heat + crisp char + juicy inside” thing to your garden in the UK.
Konro grills are typically long and narrow, which suits skewers perfectly: food sits close to the coals, you get even browning, and you can cook multiple skewers without losing heat every time you flip.
Binchotan-style charcoal is prized because it burns hot, steady, and clean, producing minimal smoke and letting the ingredient flavours come through.
It’s not magic. It’s just very high-quality charcoal with a different burn behaviour than typical lumpwood.
Konro cooking is basically BBQ tapas: quick cooks, lots of variety, constant tasting, and a social rhythm that’s perfect for UK evenings (and smaller patios).
If you want the full experience, look for konro grills made from diatomite/diatomaceous earth (good insulation = stable heat).
UK sources exist (e.g., Japanese knife/BBQ specialists).
You can mimic the technique on a kettle by:
You won’t get the same insulation, but you will get the rhythm: high heat, quick turns, frequent basting.
Binchotan can be trickier to light than standard charcoal, so using a chimney starter and/or starting with easier fuel underneath is common advice.
For many home cooks, a practical approach is:
Safety note: Konro grilling is an outdoor-only game. Serious Eats explicitly flags carbon monoxide risk for indoor use.
Tare (the classic yakitori glaze) contains sugar and will caramelise quickly. Frequent turning and attention prevents bitter burn.
This is the gateway skewer: forgiving, juicy, and built for basting.
Cut: 2–3cm chunks of chicken thigh + 3cm spring onion segments.
Cook: high heat, frequent turns, baste toward the end.
A reliable tare template uses soy sauce, mirin, sake, water, and sugar.
Mushrooms are perfect for konro: they love high heat, and you can season them aggressively.
Seafood benefits from the clean heat approach: fast cook, minimal smoke masking the flavour.
Yakitori is often seasoned with salt (shio) or tare sauce—simple, intentional, ingredient-first.
This is where your BBQ audience perks up, because it’s the easiest way to create variety fast.
If your goal is to rank for people searching spice blends, BBQ seasoning, dry rubs, chicken seasoning, don’t apologise for using blends—just do it with purpose:
Smoke & Flame idea:
If you’ve got our Chinese Salt & Pepper blend, it’s a natural fit on konro skewers: it’s built for fast high-heat cooking where pepper and chilli hit hard, but you still taste the ingredient.
(Internal link suggestion: “Chinese Salt & Pepper seasoning blend” → your product page.)
Here’s a home-friendly tare approach (consistent with widely used ratios):
Tare (basic)
This style is broadly aligned with established yakitori tare recipes.
Method
If you love skewers, quick cooks, and high control—yes. The insulation and shape are the point. But you can get 70% of the technique on a kettle with smart coal placement.
Binchotan-style charcoal is widely described as cleaner burning, hotter, and longer-lasting than typical charcoal, with minimal smell/smoke, which helps ingredient flavours come through.
Yes—many chefs and writers note it can be used beyond konro grills, though it’s expensive and you’ll want a good lighting method.
Chicken thigh + spring onion (negima). It forgives small timing mistakes and loves both salt seasoning and tare.
Brush in thin layers near the end, keep turning, and don’t walk off. Sugar caramelises fast.
On high heat, blends that lean peppery, aromatic, and not too sugary are easiest. Sugar-heavy rubs can scorch quickly. If you want sweetness, add it via a glaze at the end.
Michelin’s Japan site notes yakitori street stalls emerged in the Meiji period (1880s–90s), often using offcuts and basting with tare.
https://guide.michelin.com/jp/en/article/features/yakitori_en-2