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What to eat in Japan? Top 10 Japanese Offal Dishes

Last update: Sun Dec 15 2024
Top 10 Japanese Offal Dishes
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01

Offal Dish

SENDAI, Japan
4.4
Gyutan
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Gyutan is a Japanese dish originating from Sendai. It consists of pieces of thinly sliced beef tongue that's cooked on a charcoal grill. It's typically seasoned with salt or soy sauce-based tare sauce before grilling. The dish is usually accompanied by pickled vegetables, a combination of steamed rice and barley known as mugi gohan, or oxtail soup.


Gyutan can also be served as a donburi over steamed rice, or as a curry, which is also accompanied by rice. It's believed that the dish was invented in 1948, when a local yakitori restaurant started to specialize in beef tongue dishes.

MOST ICONIC Gyutan

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02
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Nankotsu is a traditional Japanese dish made with chicken cartilage, usually the parts from the breast bone or the leg. The cartilage is placed on skewers, and it's then grilled (or sometimes deep-fried) as a yakitori dish. Nankotsu doesn't have a strong flavor, and the texture is often described as very crunchy and chewy.


The dish is typically served with salt and lemon wedges on the side, and it can often be found in izakaya bars.

03
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Kimo or reba is a traditional Japanese yakitori-style dish made with chicken liver as the main ingredient. In order to prepare it, pieces of chicken liver are placed on skewers, then grilled until done. It is believed that the name reba yakitori is derived after the mispronunciation of the German word leber.


The flavors of kimo are rich, musky, meaty, and sometimes even gamey, while the texture is creamy and smooth. It's recommended to serve kimo yakitori with tare sauce and a cold beer on the side, a combination that's often found in izakaya bars.

MOST ICONIC Kimo yakitori

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04

Stew

FUKUOKA PREFECTURE, Japan
3.5
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Motsunabe is a variety of nabemono, the versatile and hearty Japanese one-pot dishes. It consists of various pork, chicken, or beef offal cooked in the flavorful soy sauce or miso broth alongside cabbage, garlic chives, and occasionally other ingredients.


This nutritious dish is believed to have originated in Hakata, a district in the city of Fukuoka, from where it spread to other parts of the country to become one of the favorite meals enjoyed during the cold winter season.

MOST ICONIC Motsunabe

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MAIN INGREDIENTS

Sunagimo is a traditional Japanese yakitori dish made with chicken gizzards as the main ingredient. The pieces of chicken gizzard are placed on skewers, then grilled until fully done. The texture of sunagimo is often described as crispy, yet tender, while the flavors are generally mild.


Before the grilling process, the gizzards are usually seasoned only with salt. The dish is often found in izakaya bars, where it's typically accompanied by a glass of cold beer on the side.

MOST ICONIC Sunagimo yakitori

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MAIN INGREDIENTS

Kawa is a traditional Japanese yakitori dish made with chicken skin as the main ingredient. It's believed that the best part for this type of yakitori comes from the neck of the chicken, but other parts of the skin are also commonly used. The skin is cut into strips which are then seasoned with salt, placed on skewers, and grilled until golden.


Due to the fact that chicken skin is high in fat, the flavor of kawa yakitori is very rich, while the texture is crispy on the exterior and soft inside. The dish can often be found in izakaya bars, where it's ideally paired with a cold beer on the side.

MOST ICONIC Kawa yakitori

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07
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MAIN INGREDIENTS

Hatsu is a traditional Japanese yakitori dish prepared with chicken hearts as the main ingredient. They are usually dipped into tare sauce, placed on skewers, then grilled. This type of yakitori is very popular since it's not found that often (because there's only one heart per chicken), the hearts are low in fat, with a meaty flavor and a tender, juicy texture.


The hearts are grilled until just slightly browned, and the skewers are then usually served with salt and lemon wedges on the side. The dish can also be found in izakaya bars, where it's often accompanied by a glass of cold beer.

MOST ICONIC Hatsu yakitori

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08
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MAIN INGREDIENTS

Seseri is a traditional Japanese yakitori dish prepared with chicken meat from the neck area as the main ingredient. This type of yakitori is pretty uncommon as there is a limited amount of neck meat per chicken. The pieces of chicken neck are placed on skewers, then grilled until done.


Due to the fact that this muscle moves a lot, its texture is tender, slightly chewy, and juicy. The flavor is rich due to its fat content. Before the grilling process, seseri is usually seasoned with salt.

MOST ICONIC Seseri yakitori

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09
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Rebasashi is a traditional Japanese sashimi dish made from raw liver. Not so long ago, most yakiniku, izakaya, and yakitori restaurants offered the dish on their menus, but it has been banned since 2012 as it’s not safe to eat raw liver, and the specialty disappeared from the menus.


However, the food industry made a safe, vegan-friendly imitation of liver sashimi that’s based on konnyaku (made from a type of tuber called devil’s tongue plant). The texture and flavor is very similar to raw beef or pork liver (both are banned). 
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MAIN INGREDIENTS

Kanmuri yakitori, also known as tosaka or eboshi yakitori, is a traditional Japanese yakitori dish made with chicken comb or crown as the main ingredient. The meat is full of collagen, thick and tender. The chicken combs are placed on a skewer, then grilled until crispy.


They are usually seasoned only with salt before the grilling process. This rare cut of chicken is not often found in restaurants or street stalls, so if you see it, make sure to give it a try. It's recommended to pair the dish with a cold beer on the side.

MOST ICONIC Kanmuri yakitori

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Japanese Offal Dishes