Yakitori 焼き鳥
Yakitori, literally "grilled bird" refers, in Japanese cuisine, to skewers, each piece of which is the size of a bite, cooked on a grill. They are traditionally made from chicken.
The first known mention of yakitori dates from the Edo period, in a document written in 1674, the Ryouri-shuu, which describes a method of cooking grilled meat called irotsuke through which yakitori can be prepared, among other things.
There are two main recipes, one where the skewers are only garnished with salt, the other where the skewers are cooked plain and then, at the end of cooking, covered with a sauce with mirin, sweet sake, soy sauce and sugar as ingredients.
Among the most commonly encountered skewers :
Yotsumi - chicken breast
Negima - green and white chicken onions
Nankotsu - chicken cartilage
Reb - liver
Tsukune - chicken meatball
Torikawa - chicken skin
Tebasaki - chicken wing
Momo - chicken leg
Bonjiri - rump
Shiro - small intestine chicken
Heto / hatsu - chicken heart
Sunagimo - gizzards
Yotsumi - chicken breast
Negima - green and white chicken onions
Nankotsu - chicken cartilage
Reb - liver
Tsukune - chicken meatball
Torikawa - chicken skin
Tebasaki - chicken wing
Momo - chicken leg
Bonjiri - rump
Shiro - small intestine chicken
Heto / hatsu - chicken heart
Sunagimo - gizzards
kushiyaki refers to skewers commonly called yakitori but not made from chicken, but from beef, mushrooms, wings or quail eggs or pork.
