Grilled Shrimp Skewers (海老串焼き, Ebi Kushiyaki)

The head is the part that makes people hesitate. Good. That means you're looking at the dish honestly. Ebi kushiyaki is whole shrimp, shell on, skewered tail to head and grilled until the shell crisps and the meat curls firm inside. No heavy sauce, no disguise. The shrimp must be glistening fresh, because there is nothing here to hide a tired one.

The one detail that decides it is the skewer. Thread it from the tail through the body and into the head, following the natural line of the shrimp. That keeps the shrimp long enough to cook evenly, holds the head in place, and lets the shell meet the grill instead of collapsing into itself. Soak bamboo skewers first or use metal ones. The rule is not ceremony, it's simply how we keep fire from eating the tool before it cooks the shrimp.

Salt before the grill, then again lightly at the end. The first salt seasons the shell and draws a little surface moisture so it crisps; the last salt wakes the sweetness once the meat is cooked. Lemon comes after the fire, never before, because acid sitting on raw shrimp toughens the surface and steals the clean sweetness you bought the shrimp for.

This is a small plate for a dinner party or a summer grill, not a heap. Three skewers on a dish, heads facing the same way, a cut lemon to the side, and enough empty clay showing that the shrimp can breathe. Eat the head whole if it is crisp. It gives you the deepest flavor, and after the first bite, the frightening part becomes the part everyone reaches for.