Yakitori Sunagimo

For those few who follow this blog, you may have seen the post about Yakitori Negima. The skewers of bite-sized chicken thigh and scallions, brushed with a tare of soy sauce, mirin, and sake, are some of the best skewers or kebabs that I have had. Yakitori is the essence of simplicity and perfection.

Yet, yakitori is not just one type of chicken skewer. Japanese cuisine features more than a dozen different types of yakitori.  Each skewer features a different part of the bird. For example, there is torikawa, which are skewers of crispy chicken skin. There is also kimo, which are skewers of chicken livers. And, there are the tsukune, which are little balls of ground chicken, egg and spices. 

With a wide array of possibilities, I decided to go down a path of vintage Andrew Zimmern. The Zimmern of Bizarre Foods. Rather than have the more common varieties of yakitori, such as the ones I mentioned above, I went for the less common and more out of the ordinary. My starting point is sunagimo, which are skewers of chicken gizzards. 

To be sure, I have eaten gizzards before. Whenever I purchase a whole chicken, I usually use the gizzards, along with the neck, to make a quick broth or stock. Yet, one gizzard does not make a skewer. Fortunately, the local Asian grocery store sells gizzards ... by the pound or three.  

The recipe that I used for sunagimo offered a opportunity to learn more about the different types of seasoning used to make yakitori. One seasoning involves the use of a tare sauce, which, as I noted above, is a combination of soy sauce, mirin and sake that is used as a basting liquid during grilling and served on the side. This sunagimo recipe uses only a sprinkling of salt, a preparation known as yakitori shio. 

So there you have it: namely, the two basic flavor styles of yakitori: tare and shio. You also have a glimpse into the fact that yakitori is not just grilled chicken thighs. It includes other grilled parts of the bird. The only question that remains, is, apart from what I mentioned above, what other parts can be used to make these skewers.

YAKITORI SUNAGIMO

Serves 4

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 pounds of chicken gizzards
• Salt
• Skewers

Directions:

1. Prepare the skewers. Soak the skewers for 30 minutes. Remove the skewers from the water. Thread the gizzards on the skewers, leaving room to be able to turn the skewers. Salt the skewers generously. 

2. Grill the skewers. Heat a grill to high heat. Add the skewers and turn every couple of minutes until the gizzards are cooked through.

ENJOY!