Inspired by Japanese bar food, I made some very simple spring onion skewers to accompany martinis.

These are a very tasty snack. They are very simple ingredient-wise but can be a little bit fiddly to prepare.

Nonetheless they can also be a very striking side dish. You could even serve them on top of a martini as an eye-catching garnish.

I chopped the spring onions into short lengths, stuck two on a cocktail stick then fried them, first in a little oil, then with an added soy sauce and mirin mixture.

They are slightly fiddly to make, but I thought I would try and perfect the technique to make it easier and, of course, tastier.

So my next go was to use two, longer cocktail sticks / skewers plus flat-style skewers in single fashion.

This way seemed much more effective. I chopped the spring onions (scallions), threaded them, fried them briefly in sesame oil, then put them in the oven, turning them every now and then until they were browned on both sides.

I served them with some homemade chilli jam, using a recipe from beloved Dishoom.

If you haven’t heard of ‘izakaya’ you’ve got a treat waiting for you. Find out more about izakaya amazingness here.