From the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries.
| Ingredient | Amount |
|---|---|
| Main ingredients | |
| Chicken skin | 50 g |
| Onion | 1/2 |
| Chicken liver and gizzard | 50 g each |
| Chicken thigh | 100 g |
| Salad oil | as needed |
| Seasonings and liquids | |
| Sake (Japanese rice wine) | 2 tablespoons |
| Salt | a little |
| Pepper | a little |
Bibai City lies between Sapporo and Asahikawa. Its west is a lowland of the Ishikari Plain, famous as one of Hokkaido’s top rice-growing areas. Its east is mountainous country continuing to the Yubari Mountains, and was once a thriving coal-mining town, busy with many miners.
The yakitori that the miners of that time liked to eat is said to be Bibai yakitori.
It is said that Mifune Fukutaro, who ran a yakitori stall in Bibai in the 1950s, came up with it. Yakitori shops then threw away the innards and skin, and Mifune thought it was a waste. He began selling “motsu” skewers made with the innards.
They became popular among miners and local people and spread as “Bibai yakitori.” Even now, “Bibai yakitori” means motsu skewers, with the head, skin, eggs and innards of a chicken and onion on one skewer.
Bibai yakitori uses onion instead of long onion. The farmland around Bibai is also famous for onions, and good onions are cheaper there than long onions.
It is seasoned with salt and pepper. Skin is put at the base of the skewer and thigh meat last. Onion becomes sweeter when grilled and goes well with the innards, bringing out the umami.
In the pioneer days of the Meiji period, families are said to have used every part of their carefully raised chickens on special days. Today it is served at pubs and specialty shops, and eaten at parties, weddings and funerals, and many people order large amounts and take them home. A local custom is to order a bowl of plain soba at the end of the meal and put Bibai yakitori in it.
Bibai yakitori is so popular that shops have opened elsewhere in Hokkaido, including Sapporo.
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