Yakitori bars are found all over Japan. Chicken and other foods on skewers are served with drinks. One popular version is tebasaki: chicken wings on skewers.
A chicken wing has three sections.
The wing tips have little or no meat, little fat, and lots of cartilage which make them useful when making stock.
The drummette is the top part of the wing with one large (well, large for a chicken) bone, a fair amount of white meat, and a thinish skin. They look like minature chicken legs and are popular for appetizers in the U.S.
The section of the wing between the tip and the drummette has two bones, a fatty skin, and a little meat. The larger bone might correspond to the radius bone in your forearm (your thumb side), and the smaller to the ulna.
| To remove the smaller bone from the wing, cut along the smooth unruffled edge. |
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| Cut into the wing on the smooth edge to reveal the thin bone. Cut the cartilage to release the bone. | The ruffly fatty skin should be in the middle of each skewered wing. | |
This is the section used in this recipe, with a bit of surgery not for the faint-hearted. I converted the pictures above after Mr. Tess commented that I shouldn’t put those gory pictures up on my blog! The wing skin is cut and the thin ulna bone removed. The skin and meat is butter-flied so it resembles a trapazoid or kite. A skewer can be inserted into a corner, behind the large bone, and into the opposite corner. Use two wings per skewer/serving.
Chicken Wings on Skewers
Yakitori: Tebasaki
4 appetizers, light meal for 2
page 409
- 8 chicken wings: second joints, the part with 2 bones
- salt
- 1 yuzu or lime cut in wedges
Soak 4 bamboo skewers in water for at least an hour. Heat a grill or broiler. Lay the wings flat on a work surface to remove the smaller bone as described above. Thread 2 wings on each skewer. Salt the chicken liberally on both sides, and cook until golden. Serve with yuzu or lime wedges.
Cutting the little bones out is a bit tricky, to say the least. The first time I made this, I gave up after a bit. They were fine, but not so crisp.
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Tess's Japanese Kitchen 
My sons like yakitori. So I buy yakitori in a store. My younger son eats about 6 piece. I have a lot of yakitori.
Hi Lucy! You are lucky that you can buy yakitori. If we want to eat it, then I have to make it. I prepare the skewers, and my husband cooks them on the grill.
Years ago I had a very nice hibachi. I loved grilling on it, but it’s lost now. I don’t like the grill we have now. It’s so nice that my husband will cook! I think I’m very lucky!
Since I’m still seeing that odd admin link as a signin on your blog, I’m using a different browser for this. The dish looks wonderful. I love chicken wingettes no matter how they’re fixed.
Gracie looks like an able helper too…not as cute as Mikey, but then looks aren’t everything. :)
hey ella, I don’t know what is going on. Don’t give up on me! At least this comment of yours is showing.
Gracie is my avatar—looks like a wise lion. in that case. I’m sorry, tech-type stuff is beyond me right now–my lame troubles.
I tried to comment on a wp powered blog this morning and saw the same odd admin thing you described. Went to pack lunch for work, and do other stuff, and my comment did finally go through after a long time.
Anyway, Mikey is cute. A real love. a best cat!
Yes, it shows, but I had to leave it (as I am this one) with a “virgin” browser and, most important, not logged in to wp.com. It’s the oddest thing. It’s only your blog. :(
I can imagine Mikey driving Gracie absolutely nuts!
Maybe the problem will just go away. I don’t even know what to ask support about. I’m sure I haven’t changed any browser settings—I’ve had Safari crash a couple of times when I’m listening to something on the BBC and pause it too long. But I don’t have the latest Safari, which apparently has some bugs.
Anyway, Mikey and Gracie were both adopted as adult cats.
Mikey belonged to my daughter, he was born in Chicago, and he came to us when her circumstances changed.
We got Gracie, first, because there is an apartment complex across the street and I suspect when tenants move out they think it’s a good idea to let their pets “live free.” She’d show up at our back door several times a day one summer and act so charming and friendly and cute. Very flirty and affectionate. But my husband did not want another cat, so we never let her into the house. At night we’d lock the door and he’d say, “Say good-night, Gracie.” I’d reply, “Good night Gracie” just like George Burns and Gracie Allen. When it got cold, I started letting “Gracie” in.
Well, who looked (under the tail)! A trip to the vet cleared that up: did you know that 99+% of orange cats are maie?
But the name has stuck.
Mikey and Gracie get along as well as any two competitive brothers do: one pokes the other and they tussle. A little fur flies, but nothing serious. But when they are cold they cuddle unwillingly together. In their sleep. Accidentally on purpose…
Anyway I know I’m rambling.
If I’d chosen kittens, I would NEVER have chosen any long haired types! (my 3rd cat, also a back-door adoptee, also has long hair). But flaws and all, they are loved. Even me. :-)