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If you've followed my blog for awhile, you probably know that I've been squawking for years that Sacramento needs another sushi place or brewery like I need a hole in my head. What I would love to see instead though is a restaurant dedicated to yakitori (known as a "yakitori-ya"). “Yaki” means grilled and “tori” means bird; however, nowadays the term yakitori is used interchangeably with the more formal kushiyaki (which means grilled poultry and non-poultry items). Yakitori is one of those dishes that is universally loved in Japan. You can often find it being sold by street vendors, at festivals and at izakayas. It consists of small bite-sized pieces of meat threaded onto a bamboo skewer, basted with tare (a glaze made with soy sauce, mirin, sake and sugar) then grilled over special Japanese hot coals called binchoutan and served with sake, beer or shochu. Well Santa's apparently coming early kiddos because a yakitori-ya is coming to the Valley- finally! It's not located quite in Sacramento, but in Davis rather...but hey, I'll take what I can get. ☺

The restaurant, Yakitori Yuchan is still in the midst of obtaining permits. Construction should be starting soon and it will be taking over the space formerly occupied by a Beach Hut Deli at 109 E Street. I can't wait! Hopefully they'll carry my favorite yakitori - rebā  and kawa.

Here's a Crash Course on Some Common Types of Yakitori/Kushiyaki:

Momo (chicken thigh)

Negima (chicken and negi- a type of leek)

Tebasaki (chicken wings)

Sunagimo (chicken gizzard)

Rebā (chicken liver)

Nankotsu (chicken cartilage)

Shiro (chicken small intestine)

Tsukune (chicken meatballs with cartilage mixed in)

Bonjiri (chicken tail)

Tori kawa (crispy chicken skin)

Hāto / Hatsu  (chicken heart)

Tori niku (all white meat chicken)

Seseri (chicken neck)

Mune (chicken breast meat)

Hatsumoto (chicken aorta)

Mame (chicken spleen)

Sasami (chicken tenderloin)

Hiza nan-kotsu (chicken knee cartilage)

Gyūtan (beef tongue)

Butabara (pork belly)

Kashira (pork cheeks)

Atsuage tofu (thick, deep-fried tofu)

Shiratama (quail egg)

Shishito- (small Japanese pepper)

Ninniku (garlic)

Ikada (grilled scallion)

Shiitake (shiitake mushroom, sometimes sprinkled with bonito flakes)