Beer, chicken. Beer, chicken. Can't go wrong with that sequence, can you. After being stumped at month-long-gone Kani Mura back in early March, we quickly skittered across the street to Kokkekoko for late-night nibbling of yakitori. The center-stage grill, surrounding wooden bar, and rustic but quaint wooden furniture set the mood for some casual dining, Kirin pitcher guzzling, and fun weekend bantering.
With the "five skewers minimum per person" law printed on a piece of letter-sized paper and then taped up in one barely visible corner like an afterthought, the six minds present brainstormed and filled up the order.
These chicken thighs were perfectly charred in all the right spots and were so moist.
Our table got a mix of chicken hearts and "special" chicken hearts only because they were out of the former. The special ones were smaller and indeed were better. I liked the carmelization of the spiraling edges for the gentlest sensation of crunchiness.
This was my favorite of the evening. The spicy marinade gave the wings an extra kick. The fanning out of the meat allowed it to cook deliciously allowing more contact between the surfas area of the meat and the grill. Yumm.
I really enjoyed this Soboro Rice Bowl which is marinated ground chicken over rice topped with a quail egg. How can I not though? That sounds like a perfect comforting snack.
Look at that perfectly browned surface on the gyoza! Yumm.
I love the creaminess of quail eggs. And these are even on a stick for a fun time.
Other meats we got included breasts (ehh), regular wings, gizzards, and livers. I thought the gizzards were good and crunchy. Some of the others thought it was too crunchy but since I've never had it before I was fine with it. And of course I had no idea what gizzards were either. Aren't they the little things in the little plastic bag in cornish hens and other packaged chickens?
In fact a gizzard is "a modified muscular pouch behind the stomach in the alimentary canal of birds, having a thick lining and often containing ingested grit that aids in the breakdown of seeds before digestion" [Answers.com].
After collecting a good number of skewers in their designated cups and going through a few pitchers of kirin we were stuffed and satisfied. Kokkekoko is a fun casual time, something I'm always down for.
2nd & Central Ave
Little Tokyo, Los Angeles
4 comments:
After reading your definition of gizzard (read: "often containing ingested grit"), I'm never eating that again.
lol, i thought the definition turned up a lot more tamer than sloe's "you don't want to know" statement made it seem. :) i didn't feel any sand.
I love your blog posting, and I'm excited that I was actually there with yoony and boy--how exciting! My boy and I went there last weekend, and it was just as tasty, but the service was super slow and unattentive on Saturday night. I will never go there on a Saturday night again or eat gizzard! ;)
Gizzard is like eating crunchy rubber knuckles.
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