Yakitori 焼き鳥
Bite-sized pieces of chicken on skewers, grilled over charcoal. The name means "grilled bird".
About Yakitori
- What it is: Chicken cut into even pieces, skewered and grilled, usually over charcoal for high heat and crisp skin. Common skewers include momo (thigh), negima (thigh with spring onion), tsukune (meatballs), kawa (skin) and tebasaki (wings).
- Seasoning: Order it shio (salted) or tare (a sweet-salty glaze of soy sauce, mirin, sake and sugar). Shichimi pepper, yuzu kosho or wasabi are common extras.
- Where to try it: Small yakitori shops, izakaya all over Japan, and festival food stalls. In Tokyo, narrow yokocho alleys such as Omoide Yokocho by Shinjuku Station are lined with tiny smoky yakitori counters seating only five or six people.
- How to eat it: It is a drinking food, usually ordered a few skewers at a time with a beer.
SeasonAll year
Known for it
- TokyoYokocho alleys of tiny yakitori counters, such as around Shinjuku Station
Checked against: Yakitori | Wikipedia · Omoide Yokocho | The Official Tokyo Travel Guide, GO TOKYO · "Yatai" Food Stalls | Nippon.com.
Yakitori on Shibuya246
Photos and stories from the blog, as they were written at the time.
Food & Drink
Japanese Food
On my recent trip to Shikoku I had some wonderful food, particularly produce from the Setonaikai. The taste of everything was fresh and the service was great. Often the food looked so good I ate it before taken a picture. Here are some items that I captured before eating them.