I had a couple of people round for a catch up (over drinks of course).

I was trying to think of something quick and I easy I could feed them between martini drinking when I came across some beef mince on special offer at the supermarket.

I bought a kilogram and decided to make yakitori, a type of Japanese skewer kebab, inspired by izakaya/yakitori-bar type food.

I made the following recipe:

• Soak several bamboo skewers in water overnight.
• Peel and finely chop a thumb-sized piece of ginger and add it to a large bowl.
• Finely chop 8 spring onions and add them to the bowl.
• I added a splodge of garlic paste.
• I then added 4 eggs and stirred them lightly with a fork to break them up.
• I then added a tablespoon of plain flour and a teaspoon of cornflour.
• Next, I tipped in the mince and mixed it all up with my hands.  This is both a hugely satisfying task but also horrifically messy.  Thoroughly wash your hands both before and after.

• I made the mince mixture into little balls, around 3.5cm in diameter.

• I then threaded them onto the bamboo skewers. I put three on each but this will depend on the size of your skewers.

I then mixed a glaze:

• 2 tbsp soy sauce
• 4 tsp mirin
• 2 tsp runny honey
• 1 tsp vinegar from the pickled ginger jar (balsamic or even ordinary vinegar would be fine as well I’m sure)
• A dash or Worcestershire sauce

• Stir in the ingredients in a bowl then microwave for 20 seconds.
• I then put the grill on 200 degrees C and threw in the yakitori for about 8 minutes.

• Remove the yakitori from the grill.
• Use a pastry brush to coat the top layer with the glaze.
• Gently turn the yakitori over so that the less-cooked side is facing upwards.
• Coat the newly exposed sides and put back into the oven for about 8 more minutes or until thoroughly cooked.

I served them immediately with a simple dipping sauce (2 parts soy sauce 1 part rice vinegar).

You can sprinkle over some more chopped spring onions if you can be bothered. It adds a nice contrasting colour.

Otherwise best consumed when tipsy. It would go particularly nicely with a Pickled Ginger Martini.