Sadly, the only yakitori places near me are pretty pedestrian, offering the non-offal bits. Someday, I hope to try one of the good places somewhere. Looks like there is a place over in Somerville that has heart and other bits, but we’re still not traveling to “dine-in” very much at the moment.
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A well-prepared duck dish (that isn’t paired with something too sweet) or crab that won’t be too much of a pain to eat in a restaurant setting. If can’t be a retread of the same dishes I’ve had elsewhere before though, unless there is a unique approach to it or is something out of this world.
If you are in the MA area, there’s a restaurant called La Bodega by Salts and they have an amazing whole duck preparation that you have to order ahead. It’s one of the best duck dishes I’ve ever had and it’s worth ordering ahead for. This has become the chef/owner’s signature dish and has followed them when they ran a lovely restaurant called Salts in the Cambridge, MA area.
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I ate at Salts once and while I can’t remember what I had, I do remember it was one of the best meals I’ve ever had. Perfect, unobtrusive but friendly service as well. I see there’s a picture of the duck on their main page. OH MY! (Said in my best George Takei voice)
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I need to have that duck if I’m ever up that way again…
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Hearts are hard to come by, these days. I bet they are the perfect yakitori meat. Never been to a yakitori place. Just the concept draws me to it, though. I should imagine most American ones are chicken breast/thigh meat. I love the butts.
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I like them much better now, as an adult. When I was a kid, my mom got a bulk tub of chicken hearts and livers cheap at the store and tried to hide it in a stroganoff. It tasted like betrayal. Chewy, chewy betrayal.
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We used to have a yakitori & ramen place in town (now they only serve ramen). They had chicken hearts & livers on the menu, but never in the house when I would go there to eat.
I suspect they only put those items on the menu to satisfy the Asian contingent in town, but never planned to actually have any. Shame.
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Our family uses hearts and gizzards in giouvetsi. I didn’t realize most people made yiouvetsi with lamb until I joined Chowhound.
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There’s a Brazilian place in town here, not fancy, but you walk up to a window and point out what you want from the skewers they have grilling and they will load up your plate. Then you pay by weight at the register (there’s also a buffet of salads and hot entrees for those who want that. I like their feijoada.). I used to live in walking distance from it. If you went early enough (they opened at 11am), you could get chicken hearts and they were perfect. Not too chewy, well seasoned. If you went later, they were either out or might be overcooked. I haven’t been back since the pandemic started, but I hope to get back there at some point.
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OMG that sounds amazeballz! We went to the Brazilian steakhouse near Times Square (yah, I know) one time for NYE. The appetizer buffet was unexpectedly great, so it was hard not to fill up on all kinds of seafood & seafood salads before the main event: the endless parade of skewers (no chicken hearts, sadly, AFAIR).
I’d love to go back to one, but I’d have to starve myself for a week to take full advantage.
We walked all the way back to Chelsea to our friend’s place, thankfully, which helped a bit after having stuffed ourselves silly.
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Damn. Love the sound of that. Not fancy and amazing. Fit me like and old shoe.
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Chicken hearts and gizzards were critical components in my Bubbe/Grandmother’s chicken soup. She used to serve them in the bowl. I’ll buy them when I see them - which is typically not when I plan on making soup. Instead of serving them in the soup, I’ll toss them which Chili Crisp and eat them as a snack.
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I’ve tried to make gizzards, but I’m clearly not doing it right. They get tossed whenever I am lucky enough to buy a chicken where the giblets are included. Often it includes more than one heart or liver, which I much prefer over more than one gizzard.
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I’m not sure there really is a “right” way to cook gizzards. I usually boil them when making soup or roast them if they came with a whole chicken. Their textures are pretty different depending upon the cooking method. I feel cheated when I don’t get any of the giblets. I think they are one reason I tend to buy kosher chickens even though I don’t keep kosher.
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Literally laughing out loud at this. My mother was the worst cook, excepting only her mother. Good lord, the ways they would overcook stuff to death and try to pretend it was something else.
Organ meat in the `70s was less expensive than other stuff, and we were poor, so that’s what they bought. I get that. There’s many organ meat recipes I like, now. But they’d buy organ meat and cook it to death/dryness, then serve it as if it were good stuff.
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The gizzard pack at Go Chicken Go in KC.
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I’ve only pan-fried them, but their rubbery chewiness makes me think they require a long braise.
I also find them utterly devoid of any flavor, as opposed to lovely livers and heavenly hearts 
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That looks amazing! I would definitely try that.
I’ve eaten a lot of organ meat, and hearts and livers are hit or miss depending on preparation. Hearts are generally ok, but was a bit too salty at one Brazilian churasscaria, and then really awesome at the yakitori place in San Diego. I always loved gizzards though, growing up, so I guess I love the chewiness. Was often just tossed into soups or salted for congee. Salted duck gizzards in congee was one of my childhood favorites, and if you think fresh gizzard is chewy, the salted cured kind will give your jaw the best workout ever.
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Yes! And I totally recognize that she was just trying to get dinner on the table inexpensively for a family of four, but, boy that night was a swing and a miss!
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I’m a fan of chewy. Their lack of flavor is a perfect foil for the chili crisp.
