JAPANESE CULTURE, EXPLAINED
焼き鳥
Yakitori usually means grilled skewers of chicken, including meat and offal. A menu may name a body part, a combination of ingredients or a formed preparation. Those are different kinds of information about what is on the skewer.
MAFF distinguishes shōniku, the flesh such as thigh and breast, from organs. Hatsu is heart, rebā is liver and sunagimo is the muscular gizzard. Skin can be skewered separately too. The names identify material, while cutting and cooking still affect the texture of a particular serving.
| Menu name | What it identifies |
|---|---|
| Shōniku | Flesh such as thigh and breast |
| Hatsu | Heart |
| Rebā | Liver |
| Sunagimo | Muscular gizzard |
| Negima | Chicken-and-leek combination |
| Tsukune | Formed minced meat |
Negima alternates chicken with leek. Tsukune forms minced meat into balls or other shapes, sometimes with cartilage included. Thigh meat can appear alone or with leek; tsukune names a formed minced-meat preparation rather than a cut.
Salt and tare are common seasoning choices. Tare often combines soy sauce with sugar and mirin-type seasonings, with recipes varying. Heat control also varies by cut. Hiroshima’s Sumiyaki Kaminari describes its binchōtan practice as strong heat at a distance, changing its cooking for different parts. Charcoal is familiar, while MAFF also supplies a pan-cooked version.
The yakitori association links Meiji-period stalls with chicken trimmings and offal, alongside other meats, and notes that chicken remained costly in early Shōwa. ALIC describes the growth of Japan’s broiler industry in the 1960s and increased processing after 1965.
Higashimatsuyama in Saitama is known for yakitori made with pork kashira, head meat, often alternated with leek and served with spicy miso. There, the name refers to pork, leek and spicy miso rather than chicken.
It is a formed minced-meat preparation, not one anatomical part.
No. Other heat sources, including a pan in home recipes, are used.
No. A representative local version uses pork head meat with spicy miso.