Yakitori Zai

Today was our day at Yakitori Zai. They have been open about a year I think, and they used to do cultural classes where they taught things like how to wear a kimono or how to make yakitori. They got too busy though and have put these classes on hiatus. What they have started doing are lunches-- ramen lunches. Yum! So today the New England JET Alumni went to Yakitori Zai for a special class. We got free ramen (I had the tonkotsu tsukemen-- chilled noodles, pork, and soft-boiled egg served with a warm pork-bone-based broth), and then we made several skewers of thigh yakitori. This was all free to us. I still don't know why this happened, but I'll accept it. Given their (fairly high) prices, this was probably about $40 of food for each of us :)

Tonkotsu tsukemen

After we ate our ramen, the head chef demonstrated how to cut up a chicken, taking apart and saving all the pieces. At this restaurant, they serve skewers of tail, for example. Now, I've certainly cut up whole chickens before, but somehow the way he deconstructed it there were all sorts of muscles that I have never noticed before. After watching him we had our turn with a second chicken. Everyone was shy, so I went first to take off the tail and pop off the legs. It was difficult, especially if you're trying not to fling chicken juices on everyone. I certainly don't remember all of the different steps and parts, even having seen it all twice through.

After we finished that, it was time to grill up some yakitori. This was a little bit like a cooking show in that the chickens that we just cut up were whisked away and some pre-made skewers were brought out instead. The chickens we had cut were for broth-- they are old chickens, so their meat is too tough for making yakitori, at least here, where they are very particular. They try to get as much organic and cruelty-free ingredients as possible, and the grills run on imported white charcoal.
The skewers are brushed with sake on both sides before going over the charcoal. After they are completely cooked through, they are dunked into sauce (tare) or sprinkled with salt and pepper (shio) and put back on the grill. The shio ones are done soon after, but the tare ones are dunked one more time into the tare before being ready.

Yum! Ready to eat!

 These plates and the vase-type cups that collect the used skewers were apparently made by autistic students at a local school that has ceramics facilities. So just all-in-all this place is trying to source everything in the best way it can.

Thanks to NEJETAA for the event and the pictures I stole :)