19 Kinds of Yakitori

Yakitori can be literally translated "grilled chicken." It's a popular Japanese drinking food that makes regular appearances at festivals and events. Yakitori is a wide category of bite-sized food on skewers that's grilled over charcoal. It's a common food in Japan and there's a yakitori restaurant in every major neighborhood.

The first thing that you'll notice about yakitori is that dishes include many parts of the chicken not traditionally eaten in the west. Yakitori dishes also feature vegetables and other meats. The following are a few common types of yakitori.

1. Gyutan

Beef tongue.

2. Shiro

Chicken small intestine.

3. Reba

Chicken liver.

4. Toriniku

All white meat chicken.

5. Piman

Green pepper filled with cheese, meat and other ingredients.

6. Ginnan

Seeds of the Ginkgo Biloba tree.

7. Enoki Maki

Enoki mushrooms wrapped in thin sliced pork.

8. Nankotsu

Chicken cartilage.

9. Sunagimo

Chicken gizzard.

10. Asuparabekon

Asparagus wrapped in bacon.

11. Tebasaki

Chicken wings.

12. Shiitake

Shiitake mushrooms often topped with katsuobushi flakes for umami flavor.

13. Negima

Chicken and negi.

14. Mentaiko

Mentaiko are pollock or cod roe that have a strong taste that's often described as spicy. It's a common topping for chicken or pork yakitori.

15. Chorizo

The Japanese version of Chorizo, a type of Spanish pork sausage.

16. Atsuage

Deep fried tofu.

17. Bonjiri

Chicken tail.

18. Tsukune

Chicken meatballs made with small pieces of Chicken cartilage.

19. Butabara

Pork belly.

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