Yakitori is a Japanese skewered chicken dish cooked on a barbecue with a distinct tare sauce made with soy sauce, sugar, sake, and mirin. Variations include different chicken parts and non-poultry dishes called kushiyaki. They can be enjoyed with other Japanese dishes and sake.
Yakitori is the Japanese version of shish kebab. Specifically, it is a skewered chicken dish that is cooked on a barbecue. The chicken is cut into small pieces, skewered on metal or bamboo rods and cooked over a bed of glowing charcoal. Just like other types of barbecue, yakitori is prepared with a distinct sauce. The sauce is called tare sauce and is made with soy sauce, sugar, sake and mirin. Sake and mirin are both types of Japanese rice wine but differ in their alcohol content.
Once the chicken has been drizzled with the sauce, it is cooked over the coals until quite tender. Sometimes yakitori is simply seasoned with salt instead of the tare sauce, but this is less common. While all yakitori are made with chicken, there are many variations on the dish that use different types of chicken parts. Toriniku, for example, is a variant where only chunks of white meat are served. Tebasaki is a variant made with chicken wings.
This type of Japanese barbecue also makes use of the organ meats found in a chicken. When the dish is made with chicken hearts, it’s called hatsu. When made with gizzards, it is called sunagimo or zuri. Skewered and barbecued chicken liver is called reba. When the dish is made with the small intestine of chicken, it is called shiro. There are also other variations that use other parts of the chicken such as the skin, tail and cartilage.
In addition to these chicken dishes, there are also types of skewered Japanese barbecue that use meats from other animals. These non-poultry dishes are called kushiyaki. They used pork and beef meats and sometimes contain vegetarian proteins such as tofu and greens. Enoki maki is a type of kushiyaki that is made with mushrooms wrapped in thin slices of pork, topped with a sauce, and then grilled. Asuparabekon is a kind of kushiyaki made with asparagus and bacon.
Many restaurants that serve yakitori also serve kushiyaki, and the dishes can be enjoyed together during the same meal. They can also be enjoyed with other Japanese dishes such as sushi and udon. All of these dishes go well with a good bottle of sake, which can be served cold or heated.
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