Yakitori, chicken poked onto small wooden sticks and set over hot coals. Photo by the author.
Jidori head chef Shunta Matsubara makes the chicken skewers. Photo by the author.
Short of the teeth, that's pretty much every inch of the bird used.The tsukune—minced chicken on a skewer, served with tare and egg yolk—has become Jidori's signature dish and is what head chef Shunta Matsubara is cooking up today. I find him peering inside the metre-long alter for meat that sits behind the open bar of the venue: the hallowed Kamaasa Shoten grill. It was almost by chance that co-owner Natalie Lee-Joe stumbled across this 100-year-old piece of machinery when she was researching the best fire-starters in Japan.READ MORE: Heaven Is the Food Court at a Suburban Japanese Supermarket
Jidori's prized Kamaasa Shoten grill. Photo by the author.
Hot coals used to cook the yakitori. Photo by the author.
Jidori head chef Shunta Matsubara cuts shiso leaves and spring onion. Photo by the author.
Jidori, East London. Photo courtesy Mary Gaudin.
Photo by the author.
Back on the grill and Matsubara is letting the heat do its thing to the chicken skewers, every so often fanning the coals a little, or turning the skewer so the outside of the meat begins to hit that caramelised sweet spot. While Matsubara is a deft touch fireside, Redman says it took awhile for himself to get to grips with the grill."The first two weeks when I was doing it by myself and playing around with it, I got quite a few burns across my hands," he remembers. "The trick is you've just got to bring it to you as close to you as possible. You also have to be very precise with the preparation of the meat so you're not spending the whole night holding on to a skewer of chicken."The chicken is coated with tare, a sweet 'n' salty sauce made from soy, mirin and sake that Redman says is built to intensify the flavour over years.READ MORE: What It Takes to Bring Authentic Japanese Ramen to America
Jidori Chicken skewers served with tare, a sauce made from soy, mirin. Photo by the author.