The culture of yakitori, the sacred food of Japan, is so elaborate!

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📝 History of Yakitori

In the Edo period of the 17th century, when the Shogunate ban on beef and chicken had not yet been lifted, eating chicken was tantamount to stealing, so chicken became a high-class food of the time.
As for the grilling method, it is very simple: four pieces of chicken are skewered on a small bamboo skewer, and if you like the flavor of green onions, you can add two pieces of green onions between the meat.
Then according to personal preference coated with sweet soy sauce or sprinkled with salt, with charcoal fire front and back of the grill for a few minutes, the smoke and flavor of the four overflowing, naturally, it is also a finger-licking.

Yakitori had its heyday in the 1930s when the American “chicken for meat” was popularized in Japan and chicken was no longer a high-class item, but yakitori, such as yakitori thighs, yakitori breasts, and yakitori meatballs, became affordable to the common man.
Yakitori restaurants in Japan exploded in popularity as the times progressed.

🤗 The Secret to a Tasty Roasted Bird

1、Extremely particular about the freshness of ingredients

Unlike Chinese barbecue, Japanese yakitori is all about the original flavor of the ingredients and is only seasoned in the simplest way.

It is precisely because of this simple way of cooking and seasoning that yakitori requires a high level of freshness in its ingredients.

In general, the more sophisticated yakitori houses use fresh ingredients that are slaughtered on the same day, while supplies last.

2、Selecting Ground Chicken & Ming Shank Chicken

Japan's JAS Law stipulates that a Japanese ground chicken must first have a bloodline of not less than 50% Japanese chicken. Secondly, the rearing period must exceed 80 days.

Lastly, and most importantly, it must be raised naturally on “flat land” (the “land” of Jiji chickens does not refer to a place that represents a region, but rather to the ground). And each square meter of land can only be stocked with no more than 10 chickens after 28 days of birth.

Only when the above three conditions are met can a chicken be called a “ground chicken”.

Chicken raised in this way has a different flavor from ordinary chicken in soup, barbecue, hot pot, sashimi, and various other ways of cooking.

As a result, Japanese ground chicken has become famous for its tender meat and rich flavor, and although the price is high, it is highly sought after.

The chicken is hand-raised and is about 40 to 50 days old. Due to its small size, the meat is more tender and smooth. There are many different methods of raising them, as well as a variety of feeds used, and there are also different breeds in different prefectures and cities.

In Miyazaki Prefecture alone, there are more than ten different breeds. In short, the emergence of high-quality local chicken breeds that are certified by national organizations has established the status of high-quality chickens.

2、Quality charcoal and fire

Charcoal is the best fuel for roasting a roasted bird, preferably good quality charcoal. This way the yakitori will also have the flavor of the charcoal when it burns at high temperature and is roasted.

However, nowadays, many Japanese restaurants in China use charcoal for grilling less and less due to various considerations, but sophisticated yakitori restaurants still insist on traditional charcoal grilling.

Yakitori, a seemingly simple commoner's cuisine, is in fact not simple at all. Each part of the fire is different, some should be half-raw, some should be grilled through, and the time of grilling is also different, which is why there is a saying among Japanese barbecue workers that “three years of skewering, a lifetime of skewering”.

In order to grill the ingredients just right, it is necessary to have an in-depth knowledge of each ingredient, and after a long time of practice, and finally, it is also necessary to have a heart of excellence.

🤗 Ten thousand ways to eat a bird.

Similar to the cutting of beef, chicken is also carefully cut into different parts of the chicken to make different skewers.

In addition to the usual chicken breasts, thighs, and livers, chicken crowns, ginko (the skin of the gizzard), and sleeves (the part of the chicken that connects the wing to the breast) are also cut up and served at yakitori stores.

There are dozens of such parts. At Tori, a Michelin one-star yakitori restaurant in Tokyo, there is also a famous grilled chicken ovary that is said to be amazing by those who have eaten it.

Rusty Rougui (さびやき)

roast chicken heart (ハツ)

whole chicken heart (丸ハツ)

chicken neck (せせり)

chicken meatballs (つくね)

Sand sacs (sandy liver)

chicken liver (ちぎも)

chicken leg (そりレース)

gristle (なんこつ)

grilled chicken wings (手羽焼き)

chicken onion skewer (ねぎま)

The chicken and scallion skewers are a classic at Yakitori, and the pairing of chicken and scallions is just excellent.

chicken butt (ぼんじり)

Usually it's scraps to be discarded, but in yakitoriya, it's a rare part of the menu to be reserved.

chicken skin (ひな皮或とり皮)

Chicken skin is the preferred choice if you want to enjoy both the robust flavor and the sweetness of the fat.

chicken shoulder (ふりそで)

The area between the chicken breast and the chicken wing. This part is very valuable for enjoying both the skin and the meat of the chicken, and it tastes even better with raw soy sauce.

chicken testicles (白子)

The texture is soft and smooth, and the contrast between the flavor on the surface and the creamy richness in the middle is the biggest draw.

Kidney (dorsal liver)

Kidneys are much like chicken livers, with a rich flavor, and are usually roasted in a sauce.

a portable lamp

The name is derived from the fact that it consists of the internal organs and the unripe egg, which are joined together to look like a lamp.

silver skin

The silver skin is the meat from the stomach of the chicken, which is usually thrown away by many people and is very hard, but when treated it becomes very crispy and has a marvelous texture.

📎 Bird burning. It's not all about the birds.

The ingredients for yakitori are actually very rich, and in addition to chicken, you will use vegetables, seafood, pork, beef, and other rich ingredients that will be used.

The pork category includes pork liver, pork heart, pancetta, etc. Among them, the pork meatballs are actually somewhat rectangular in shape. The pork meatballs made with pork, cabbage and other ingredients are a combination of meat and vegetables, and are baked in a secret sauce that retains the freshness of the meatballs without being overly flavored.

Those in the meatloaf category include enoki mushrooms, baby tomatoes, apricot mushrooms, and green peppers, which are wrapped in meat and grilled for a layered meal with distinctive flavors.

Salt-roasted prawns, salt-roasted mackerel, takoyaki, grilled whole squid, roasted shiitake mushrooms, enoki mushrooms, roasted garlic, and roasted okra are also common in yakitoriya, so be sure to try them out a bit more to discover your favorite one.