Skewers Quotes

“Bell pepper and onion skewers dripping with garlic hot sauce and a little lime. Chicken and steak skewers wrapped in bacon. And a side of farofa so we could dip the skewers and feel the crunch of kasava flour soaking up juices from the meat.”
― Rebecca Carvalho, Salt and Sugar

“CHICKEN SKEWERS AL PASTOR

6 pounds chicken breasts
3 red bell peppers
3 green bell peppers
3 red onions

FOR THE ADOBO:
2 cups orange juice
1 cup white vinegar
1 cup guajillo peppers, rehydrated
2 tablespoons oregano
2 tablespoons cumin”
― Adi Alsaid, North of Happy

“I eyed the spread, wondering where I should start. Skewers of pork barbecue, the slightest hint of char releasing a delicious, smoky aroma, beckoned me, as did the platter of grilled adobo chicken wings next to it. As I loaded up my plate with meat, my aunt reached over to put a tofu-and-mushroom skewer on my mountain of rice.
"Can you tell me what you think of this, anak? I'm testing the recipes for our Founder's Day booth and this will be our main vegetarian offering. I used a similar marinade as our barbecue, but it's not quite right."
Looking at the array of food on the table, I noticed it was all pica-pica, or finger food. Things that could easily be prepared at the booth and eaten while wandering the festival. The barbecue skewers were obviously the mains, but she also had fish balls (so much better than it sounded) and my favorite, kwek-kwek. The hard-boiled quail eggs were skewered, dipped in a bright orange batter colored with annatto seeds, and deep-fried. So simple and delicious, especially if you dipped it in my aunt's sweet and spicy vinegar sauces.”
― Mia P. Manansala, Homicide and Halo-Halo

“This is an eel roll-up skewer. It's thinly sliced eel meat wrapped around a skewer."
"What do you mean by the eel meat?"
"Take a look at the diagram behind you."
"Hmm! It's been separated into so many different parts!
It's soft, meaty and fatty...
I can enjoy the flavor of the eel to the fullest!"
"I must say... this skewer tastes good."
"The taste of the eel is a lot richer since it hasn't been steamed like a Tokyo-style kabayaki! And it's a lot more soft and succulent than the kansai-style kabayaki!"
"It's the very essence of the eel's flavor."
"This is the liver. I can only get one liver out of an eel, so I can only provide the customers with a limited amount each day."
"Oh, but isn't the liver the guts?"
Ah, look at the diagram. At my place, the liver is one specific part while the guts are the whole thing."
"Ooh, I see. That's what it means."
"Animal guts have a distinct smell to them. But the eel liver has no smell at all!"
"Unlike an ordinary liver skewer...
I've taken out the gall bladder, so it's not bitter.
Next come the grilled ribs. The ribs are the abdominal bones in the eel that you get rid of when making kabayaki. I skewer and grill them.”
― Tetsu Kariya, Izakaya: Pub Food

“This one is skewered guts. It's all the guts except the liver."
"It's got that unique texture of a gut, with a slightly bitter taste!"
"The flavor of the guts tends to seep out when you make soup with it, but this retains all its refreshing original flavor!"
"This is a fin skewer. As you can guess from its name, it's the dorsal fin of the eel...
... wrapped around a skewer with ribs and garlic chives."
"This is my favorite one!"
"They throw these parts away when they make kabayaki."
"Ah! I understand why this is your favorite, Yamaoka-san! The eel and the garlic chives create a rich, savory flavor!"
"I never thought eel and garlic chives would go so well together!"
"The dorsal fin of a left-eyed flounder is called an engawa, and it's considered a delicacy. It's the most active part of the fish's body, so it's fatty and good to eat."
"The same goes for the eel."
"This one is the collar. It's the meat around the neck, below the eyes...
... which I cut open and skewered after taking the head off.
The head bone is very tough, so this is the only part of the eel I throw away."
"Hmm, so it's called the "collar" because it's the area around the neck."
"It has a complex flavor to it too. It's totally different from the stomach meat, the guts or the dorsal fin!"
"It kind of tastes like a mixture of fish and lamb meat! There are so many other skewers, right?!"
"Yahata-maki, which is eel meat wrapped around burdock.
Tanzaku, where the meat has been cut like strips of paper.
Smoked eel.
And of course, we can't forget the famous kabayaki.”
― Tetsu Kariya, Izakaya: Pub Food

“Chicken meat, gizzard, chicken skin and chicken wing.
This time, I added about 10 percent more water to the Takazasu I gave to you...
...and let it sit for about a week to blend the alcohol and flavor together. And I've warmed it just like the last one so that it will be 118 degrees when poured into the cup.
If the temperature is any lower than that, the sweetness of the sake becomes too distinct and it loses its lightness."
"Hmmm! This one tastes so light, even though it's the same temperature!"
"After eating for a while, people tend to start getting a bit tired. If you warm this sake up to the right temperature, it helps you continue to eat."
"That's right. And this sake is not only light, but it also has a strong, rich taste...
... so it can capture the fatty parts like the chicken skin and chicken wing and boost their flavor."
"This way, you can continue to eat, and you'll never get tired of drinking.”
― Tetsu Kariya, Izakaya: Pub Food

“Kabayaki-style means brushed with sauce, skewered on sticks and then grilled over charcoal. For a Tokyo-style eel kabayaki, the eel is split open from its back, grilled without the sauce, steamed and then grilled again with the sauce. For the Kansai-style, the eel is split open from its stomach, and then grilled right away without being steamed.”
― Tetsu Kariya, Izakaya: Pub Food

“He drained his first cup of sake, then maneuvered his chopsticks toward their first destination: the thick shrimp-paste omelet. Layered and rolled into a fragrant cakelike sponge, it was an irresistible combination of savory and sweet--- just the way Takayuki liked it.
Next, he began loosening the various elements from the willow skewer and popping them into his mouth. The shrimp dumplings were succulent, the salted cucumber refreshing, and the quail meatballs--- which included the soft bones ground up in the paste--- dense with rich flavor.”
― Jesse Kirkwood, The Menu of Happiness