Yakitori Nankotsu (なんこつ, grilled chicken cartilage)

Cartilage makes some cooks hesitate. I understand. It sounds like the part left behind after the polite pieces have gone to the table. But nankotsu is not a scrap in yakitori, it is the point: a clean, springy crunch with just enough meat clinging to it to brown over the fire.

The first secret is sourcing. Ask for hiza nankotsu, the knee cartilage, or yagen nankotsu, the breastbone cartilage with a little tender meat attached. If it smells tired, don't grill it. There is nothing here to hide behind. A yakitori counter lives by that honesty, and the skewer tells on you faster than a judge with a notebook.

Cook it simply, the way we do it here: salt, skewer, grill. Salt draws a little surface moisture forward, so the meat browns and the cartilage stays clean-tasting. Turn the skewers often over hot coals or a very hot grill, because cartilage is small and stubborn. You want browned edges, not a dried-out relic. The detail that decides it is heat control: close enough to color, far enough to keep the snap.