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Published: October 11th 2008
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Yakiniku Viking
I went out to dinner with a good friend of mine to a restuarant called Yakiniku Viking tonight. We had fun grilling up our food on a griddle centered in the middle of our table. I ate several different cuts of beef, chicken, squash, cabbage, several types of vegetables, rice and had melon soda to drink. Yum. Here's some more information on Yakiniku-style cooking/restaurants:
General Overview Yakiniku (焼き肉 or 焼肉), meaning "grilled meat", is a Japanese term which, in its broadest sense, refers to grilled meat dishes.
Today, it commonly refers to a Japanese style of cooking bite-sized meat (usually beef and offal) and vegetables on gridirons or griddles over flame of wood charcoals carbonized by dry distillation (sumibi, ja:炭火) or gas/electric grill. In North America, China and Taiwan, Yakiniku is also referred to as either "Japanese BBQ" or "Korean Barbecue" due to its Korean origins.
It is thought to have originated from horumonyaki, a dish of grilled offal, invented by Korean immigrants in the Kansai area after the Second World War.
In a yakiniku restaurant, diners order several types of prepared raw ingredients (either individually or as a set) which are brought to
the table. The ingredients are cooked by the diners on a grill built into the table throughout the duration of the meal, several pieces at a time. The ingredients are then dipped in sauces known as tare before being eaten. The most common sauce is made of Japanese soy sauce mixed with sake, mirin, sugar, garlic and sesame. Garlic-and-shallot or miso-based dips are sometimes used, and sometimes yakiniku is eaten seasoned only with salt. Soup, kimchi, nameul, bibimbap and other Korean-influenced dishes are often served alongside.
Etymology Although meat has been consumed as food in Japanese history, it was officially legalised in 1871 following Meiji Restoration as part of an effort to introduce western culture to the country. The Emperor Meiji himself was brought in to be publicly observed eating beef on January 24, 1873 to promote beef consumption. Steak and roasted meat were translated as yakiniku (焼肉) and iriniku (焙肉), respectively, as proposed western-style menus in Seiyō Ryōri Shinan published in 1872, although this usage of the former word was eventually replaced by the loanword sutēki.
Jingisukan (ja:ジンギスカン, Japanese transliteration of Genghis Khan), is a style of grilling mutton, which is also referred to as a type of yakiniku. It was first conceived 1931 in Hokkaidō, where it has ever since been a popular blue-collar dish, but has only recently gained nationwide popularity.
Origin Common Japanese style of Yakiniku, drawing influences from Korean dishes such as bulgogi and galbi, became widespread in Japan during the 20th century, most notably after the Second World War. Restaurants serving this dish either advertised themselves as horumonyaki (ja:ホルモン焼き, offal-grill) or simply Joseon (Korean) cuisine (朝鮮料理, chōsen ryori?). The division of the Korean peninsula led to disagreements in the mid-1960s in the naming of "Korean food", with pro-South businesses changing their signs to "kankoku ryori (韓国料理, kankoku ryori?)" (named after Republic of Korea) rather than sticking to the term chōsen (Joseon), the name of the old, undivided Korea.
Ventilated barbecue systems, introduced by Shinpo Co., Ltd. in March 1980, quickly spread throughout Japan as it enabled diners to eat Yakiniku in a smoke-free environment and thus greatly extended the clientele.
The Seoul Olympics in 1988 led to a surge of interest in Korea, and yakiniku became more popular in Japan. The popularity of yakiniku was given a further boost in 1991 when the easing of beef import restrictions led to a drop in the price of beef. However the industry was dealt an unprecedented blow in 2001 with the occurrence of BSE (mad cow disease) within Japan.
Many yakiniku restaurants in Japan have been run by ethnic Koreans including the president of All Japan Yakiniku Association and thus yakiniku industry is sometimes regarded as an "ethnic industry".
Typical Ingrediants Typical ingredients include:
Beef and pork
Rōsu - loin and chuck slices
Karubi or baraniku - short ribs. From the Korean word "galbi". In Japan it is usually served without the bones, unless it is specified as hone-tsuki-karubi (galbi on the bone).
Horumon or motsu - Offal.
Harami - tender meat around the diaphragm.
Rebā - beef liver. From the German word "de:Leber".
Tan - beef tongue. From the English word "tongue". Often served with salt and lemon juice..
Tetchan - intestine. From the Chinese word "大肠" (da chang). May simply be referred to as horumon.
Hatsu - heart. From the English word "heart".
Mino / Hachinosu - beef tripe
Chicken
Seafood - squid, shellfish
Vegetables - bell pepper, carrots, shiitake and other mushrooms, onions, cabbage, eggplant, bean sprout, garlic, and kabocha squash are common
Yakiniku is usually served with rice or beer. Korean soups, kimchi, bibimbap, namul, lettuce and other sometimes Korean-influenced salads are other common side dishes as well as raw meat dishes such as yukhoe, sashimi of meat, liver, and omasum.
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