You need

• 24 Medjool dates, pitted
• 12 slices thin-cut bacon, halved crosswise (24 pieces)
• 3 oz Manchego, cut into 24 small batons, or 3 oz blue cheese
• 24 whole almonds, toasted (optional, in place of cheese)
• 1 tsp black pepper, coarse
• 2 tsp honey, for finishing
• 24 toothpicks, soaked in water 10 minutes

Method

1. Heat the oven to 400F (205C). Line a sheet pan with foil and set a wire rack inside it. The rack matters — it keeps the dates out of the rendered fat so the bacon crisps instead of stews.
2. Slit each date lengthwise without cutting through. Tuck in a baton of Manchego, a pinch of blue cheese, or a toasted almond. Press the date closed around it.
3. Wrap each date with a half slice of bacon, overlapping slightly, and pin it shut with a soaked toothpick. Set them seam-side down on the rack with a little space between.
4. Grind black pepper over the tops. Bake 20 to 25 minutes, turning once at the halfway mark, until the bacon is browned and firm all over with no translucent fat left.
5. Rest 5 minutes on the rack. The filling comes out of the oven hot enough to hurt and needs the time to settle.
6. Drizzle with honey and serve warm. Put out a bowl for the used toothpicks or you will find them with your feet later.

From behind the bar: Thin-cut bacon only. Thick-cut needs longer than the date can survive, and you end up with a scorched fruit wrapped in underdone pork.

You need

• 1.5 lb boneless skinless chicken thighs, cut into 1-inch strips
• 1 cup full-fat coconut milk, divided
• 2 tsp ground turmeric
• 2 tsp ground coriander
• 1 tbsp fish sauce
• 1 tbsp brown sugar
• 3 garlic cloves, grated
• 1 tbsp fresh ginger, grated
• 1/2 cup natural peanut butter, unsweetened
• 1 tbsp soy sauce
• 1 tbsp lime juice, plus wedges to serve
• 1 tsp chili garlic sauce, or to taste
• 2 tbsp neutral oil
• 16 bamboo skewers, soaked in water 30 minutes

Method

1. Whisk 1/2 cup coconut milk with the turmeric, coriander, fish sauce, brown sugar, garlic, and ginger. Add the chicken strips, turn to coat, cover, and refrigerate at least 2 hours and up to overnight. The 45 minutes below is hands-on time — plan the marinade around your evening, not the other way around.
2. Make the sauce with the reserved half of the coconut milk, which never touched raw chicken: warm it in a small pan over low heat, then whisk in the peanut butter, soy sauce, lime juice, and chili garlic sauce until smooth. Thin with water a tablespoon at a time to a pourable consistency. Take it off the heat and leave it alone.
3. Thread the chicken onto the soaked skewers in a loose S, one or two strips each. Do not bunch it tight or the center will not cook before the edges burn. Discard the used marinade.
4. Heat a grill or grill pan to medium-high, around 425F (220C). Oil the grates with the neutral oil. Cook the skewers 3 to 4 minutes per side, turning once, until well marked.
5. Check with an instant-read thermometer in the thickest piece. Chicken is done at 165F (74C) and not a degree before. Pull anything that reads short and give it another minute.
6. Rest 3 minutes, then serve with the peanut sauce, lime wedges, and cucumber if you have it.

From behind the bar: Cover the exposed skewer ends with a strip of foil on the grill. Soaked bamboo still chars, and a skewer that snaps mid-handoff drops your dinner in the coals.

You need

• 1.5 lb large shrimp (16/20 count), peeled and deveined, tails on
• 4 garlic cloves, minced
• 3 tbsp olive oil
• 1 tsp smoked paprika
• 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
• 1 tsp kosher salt
• 1/2 tsp black pepper
• Zest and juice of 1 lemon
• 2 tbsp flat-leaf parsley, chopped
• 2 tbsp cold butter, cubed
• 12 bamboo skewers, soaked 30 minutes, or metal skewers — they get used in parallel pairs, two per row

Method

1. Pat the shrimp completely dry with paper towels. Wet shrimp steam instead of searing and never take on color.
2. Combine the garlic, olive oil, smoked paprika, cayenne, salt, pepper, and lemon zest in a bowl. Add the shrimp and toss. Marinate 15 to 20 minutes and no longer — past that the salt starts curing them firm. The lemon juice goes on at the end for the same reason.
3. Thread 4 to 5 shrimp per row, running the skewer through both the tail end and the thick end so each one lies flat. A pound and a half gives you about six loaded rows. Flat shrimp cook evenly and flip as a unit.
4. Heat a grill or heavy skillet to medium-high, around 450F (230C). Oil the grates or the pan. Cook 2 minutes per side, undisturbed, until the outside is pink and the flesh is opaque all the way through.
5. Confirm doneness at 145F (63C) on an instant-read thermometer, or by shape: a shrimp curled into a loose C is done, a tight O is overcooked.
6. Off the heat, toss the hot skewers with the cold butter, lemon juice, and parsley on a warm platter. Serve immediately with bread to mop the plate.

From behind the bar: Two parallel skewers per row of shrimp stops them spinning when you turn them. One skewer means every shrimp rotates and you fight the whole batch.

You need

• 1 lb halloumi, cut into 1-inch cubes
• 1 medium zucchini, cut into 1/2-inch half-moons
• 16 cherry tomatoes
• 1 red onion, cut into 1-inch wedges
• 3 tbsp olive oil
• 1 tbsp dried oregano
• 2 garlic cloves, grated
• Zest and juice of 1 lemon
• 1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
• 1/4 tsp black pepper
• 2 tbsp honey, for finishing
• 8 bamboo skewers, soaked 30 minutes

Method

1. Drain the halloumi and pat it dry. It comes packed in brine and does not need salt — everything else in the marinade is doing that job.
2. Whisk the olive oil, oregano, garlic, lemon zest, red pepper flakes, and black pepper. Toss the halloumi, zucchini, tomatoes, and onion in it. Let it sit 15 minutes.
3. Thread the skewers alternating cheese and vegetables, ending with a firm piece so nothing slides off. Leave a small gap between items so the heat gets around them.
4. Heat a grill or grill pan to medium, around 400F (205C), and oil the grates well. Halloumi sticks to anything it is given the chance to stick to.
5. Grill 2 to 3 minutes per side, four sides total, about 10 minutes. You are looking for deep grill marks, softened cheese, and onion that has lost its raw bite. Halloumi holds its shape by design — if the outside is blackening before the marks set, drop the heat.
6. Hit them with lemon juice and a drizzle of honey off the heat. Serve hot. Halloumi turns to a squeaky brick once it cools, so time this to the table, not the other way around.

From behind the bar: Cut everything to the same 1-inch scale. Mismatched sizes mean the tomatoes collapse while the onion is still raw and nobody is happy.

You need

• 1 lb ground beef, 80/20
• 1/2 lb ground pork
• 3/4 cup panko breadcrumbs
• 1/3 cup whole milk
• 1 large egg
• 1/2 cup grated Parmesan
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• 1/4 cup flat-leaf parsley, chopped
• 1.5 tsp kosher salt
• 1 tsp black pepper
• 1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
• 1 cup tomato passata or marinara
• 1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
• 24 short bamboo skewers or cocktail picks

Method

1. Heat the oven to 400F (205C). Soak the panko in the milk for 5 minutes until it is a paste. This is the panade — skip it and you get golf balls.
2. Add the beef, pork, egg, Parmesan, garlic, parsley, salt, pepper, and red pepper flakes to the soaked panko. Mix with your hands until just combined and stop. Overworking the mix packs the protein tight and the meatballs turn rubbery.
3. Roll into 24 balls of about 1.25 inches, roughly 1.3 oz each — a rounded tablespoon and a half. Wet hands keep the mix from sticking. Arrange on a foil-lined sheet pan fitted with a wire rack, spaced apart.
4. Bake 15 to 18 minutes, until browned and firm. Check the center of two or three with an instant-read thermometer — ground beef and pork are safe at 160F (71C). Anything under goes back in for 3 minutes and gets checked again.
5. Warm the passata with the balsamic in a wide pan over low heat. Roll the cooked meatballs through it to coat lightly. You want a glaze, not a swamp.
6. Skewer each one through the center, stand them on a platter, and serve warm with napkins nobody will use.

From behind the bar: Fry one teaspoon of the raw mix in a skillet and taste it before rolling the batch. Seasoning a pound and a half of meat blind is how you end up with 24 bland disappointments.

You need

• 14 oz paneer (acid-set, no rennet), cut into 1 in cubes
• 3/4 cup full-fat plain Greek yogurt (gelatin-free)
• 2 tbsp heavy cream
• 1 tbsp ginger-garlic paste
• 1 tbsp fresh lemon juice
• 2 tsp Kashmiri chili powder
• 1 tsp garam masala
• 1 tsp ground cumin
• 1/2 tsp ground turmeric
• 1 tsp kosher salt
• 1 tbsp chickpea flour (besan)
• 1 red onion, cut into petals
• 1 green bell pepper, cut into 1 in squares
• 3 tbsp melted ghee or unsalted butter, for basting
• Chaat masala, cilantro and lemon wedges, to finish

Method

1. Toast the besan in a dry pan over medium heat for 2 minutes until it smells nutty. Raw besan tastes like chalk and ruins the marinade.
2. Whisk the yogurt, cream, ginger-garlic paste, lemon juice, all the ground spices, salt and toasted besan. It should coat a spoon thickly.
3. Fold in the paneer, onion and pepper. Rest 30 minutes at room temperature, or up to 4 hours refrigerated. Longer than that and the acid turns the cheese tough.
4. Thread onto skewers, alternating cheese and vegetables, leaving small gaps so the heat can get in and char the sides.
5. Heat the broiler to high. Broil on the top rack about 6 in from the element, or grill over high direct heat, 4 minutes a side, until the edges blacken in patches.
6. Baste with the melted ghee in the last minute and push it one shade darker than feels sensible. The black spots are the whole point.
7. Rest 2 minutes, then hit with chaat masala, torn cilantro and a hard squeeze of lemon.

From behind the bar: Paneer does not melt, so it does not forgive either. Pull it at 8 minutes total. Past that it goes from custardy to squeaky and no marinade saves it.

You need

• 1.5 lb (700 g) pork neck/collar, in one piece
• 3 tbsp oyster sauce
• 2 tbsp fish sauce
• 1 tbsp dark soy sauce
• 2 tbsp palm sugar, chopped
• 6 garlic cloves, crushed
• 3 cilantro roots or 6 stems, crushed
• 1 tsp ground white pepper
• 2 tbsp lime juice (jaew)
• 2 tbsp fish sauce (jaew)
• 1 tbsp tamarind concentrate (jaew)
• 1 tbsp palm sugar (jaew)
• 1 tbsp toasted rice powder, khao khua (jaew)
• 1-2 tsp dried chili flakes, phrik pon (jaew)
• 1 shallot, sliced thin (jaew)
• Cilantro and scallion, chopped (jaew)

Method

1. Blend oyster sauce, fish sauce, dark soy, palm sugar, garlic, cilantro root and white pepper. Rub over the pork, bag it, refrigerate 4 hours or overnight.
2. Pull the pork out 30 minutes before cooking. Build a medium charcoal fire, or heat a grill pan over medium.
3. Grill 5-6 minutes per side, moving it off direct heat if the sugar catches, until the center reads 145F/63C.
4. Rest 10 minutes on a board. This is not optional; cut it early and the juice ends up on the board.
5. Whisk the jaew: lime juice, fish sauce, tamarind, palm sugar until the sugar dissolves. Stir in rice powder, chili flakes, shallot and herbs just before serving.
6. Slice across the grain about 1/4 inch thick, fan it on a plate, serve the jaew alongside with raw cabbage and cucumber.

Where you'd actually eat it: Soi Rangnam, Ari, any mo-lam grill shop with plastic stools on the sidewalk. Hong Thong and soda over a full glass of ice, topped up by whoever sat down last.

From behind the bar: Toasted rice powder is the whole point of jaew. Toast raw sticky rice in a dry pan over medium until deep tan, 8 minutes, then grind. It goes stale fast.

You need

• 1.5 lb (700 g) ground pork, about 25% fat
• 1.5 cups cooked jasmine rice, cooled
• 12 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 tbsp fine sea salt
• 1 tsp sugar
• 1 tsp ground white pepper
• 1/4 tsp pink curing salt #1
• Hog casings, about 6 ft, rinsed
• Raw ginger, cut in cubes, to serve
• Green cabbage wedges, to serve
• Bird's eye chilies and raw peanuts, to serve

Method

1. Mix pork, rice, garlic, salt, sugar, white pepper and curing salt. Work it 2 minutes until sticky, keeping the bowl cold.
2. Stuff into casings and twist into 3-inch links. Prick each one a few times with a pin.
3. Ferment at 70-75F/21-24C for 1-2 days, hung or on a rack, loosely covered, until it smells distinctly sour. If the kitchen runs above 80F/27C, ferment in the fridge for 3 days instead.
4. Refrigerate as soon as it tastes right. Grill over low-medium charcoal, turning often, 15-20 minutes. They burst if you rush them.
5. Cook to an internal 160F/71C. Cut one open: the rice should be set, not pasty.
6. Serve on a plate with ginger cubes, cabbage, whole chilies and peanuts. No sauce needed.

Where you'd actually eat it: Cart grills outside Victory Monument and Ratchawat market, and every Isaan shop in town. Leo over ice, or lao khao if the table has already committed.

From behind the bar: Fermenting raw pork at room temperature is real charcuterie. Use the curing salt, keep everything cold while mixing, and throw it out if it smells of anything but sour.

You need

• 4 whole dried squid, about 6 oz (170 g) total
• 1/2 cup Thai sweet chili sauce
• 2 tbsp tamarind concentrate
• 1 tbsp palm sugar
• 1 tbsp fish sauce
• 1 tsp dried chili flakes
• 2 tbsp roasted peanuts, crushed

Method

1. Warm the sauce ingredients except peanuts in a small pan over low heat, 3 minutes, until the palm sugar dissolves. Cool, then stir in peanuts.
2. Build a low charcoal fire or heat a dry cast iron pan over medium-low.
3. Grill the squid 2-3 minutes per side, until it curls, puffs slightly and smells toasted. It goes leather if the heat is high.
4. Roll each one flat with a rolling pin, hard, pressing along the grain. This is what makes it edible.
5. Tear into strips with your hands, along the length.
6. Pile on a plate with the sauce in a bowl. Do not attempt this with a knife and fork.

Where you'd actually eat it: Handcart guys with a charcoal box and a hand roller, working the bar strips of Chinatown's Soi Nana and outside Ekkamai. Beer, always beer.

From behind the bar: Dried squid lives in the freezer section or the dry-goods aisle of any Thai, Viet or Korean market. Shredded dried cuttlefish is the shortcut if you cannot find whole.

You need

• 1.5 lb (700 g) pork neck/collar, in one piece
• 3 tbsp oyster sauce
• 2 tbsp fish sauce
• 1 tbsp dark soy sauce
• 2 tbsp palm sugar, chopped
• 6 garlic cloves, crushed
• 3 cilantro roots or 6 stems, crushed
• 1 tsp ground white pepper
• 2 tbsp lime juice (jaew)
• 2 tbsp fish sauce (jaew)
• 1 tbsp tamarind concentrate (jaew)
• 1 tbsp palm sugar (jaew)
• 1 tbsp toasted rice powder, khao khua (jaew)
• 1-2 tsp dried chili flakes, phrik pon (jaew)
• 1 shallot, sliced thin (jaew)
• Cilantro and scallion, chopped (jaew)

Method

1. Blend oyster sauce, fish sauce, dark soy, palm sugar, garlic, cilantro root and white pepper. Rub over the pork, bag it, refrigerate 4 hours or overnight.
2. Pull the pork out 30 minutes before cooking. Build a medium charcoal fire, or heat a grill pan over medium.
3. Grill 5-6 minutes per side, moving it off direct heat if the sugar catches, until the center reads 145F/63C on an instant-read thermometer.
4. Rest 10 minutes on a board. This is not optional; cut it early and the juice ends up on the board.
5. Whisk the jaew: lime juice, fish sauce, tamarind, palm sugar until the sugar dissolves. Stir in rice powder, chili flakes, shallot and herbs just before serving.
6. Slice across the grain about 1/4 inch thick, fan it on a plate, serve the jaew alongside with raw cabbage and cucumber.

Where you'd actually eat it: Soi Rangnam, Ari, any mo-lam grill shop with plastic stools on the sidewalk. Hong Thong and soda over a full glass of ice, topped up by whoever sat down last.

From behind the bar: Toasted rice powder is the whole point of jaew. Toast raw sticky rice in a dry pan over medium until deep tan, 8 minutes, then grind. It goes stale fast.

You need

• 500 g / 1 lb shucked mussel meat, patted dry
• 150 g / 1 cup plain flour, plus extra for dusting
• 1 egg yolk
• 250 ml / 1 cup very cold soda water
• 1/2 tsp salt
• Sunflower oil for deep frying
• Wooden skewers
• Tarator: 100 g walnuts, 2 slices stale white bread (crusts off), 3 garlic cloves, juice of 1 lemon, 100 ml olive oil, 4 tbsp water, salt

Method

1. Tarator first: soak the bread in water, squeeze it dry, blitz with walnuts, garlic, lemon and salt. Trickle in the olive oil, then loosen with water to the texture of thick cream. Chill.
2. Dry the mussel meat thoroughly on paper towel. Dust with plain flour and shake off the excess.
3. Thread 3-4 mussels onto each skewer, leaving a handle at one end.
4. Whisk the egg yolk into the cold soda water, then whisk in flour and salt to a batter about as thick as heavy cream. Lumps are fine. Overmixing is not.
5. Heat 6 cm of oil to 350F/175C. Below that they drink oil; above 375F/190C the batter colors before the mussel is hot.
6. Dip each skewer in the batter, let the excess run off, and fry 2-3 minutes until deep gold and crisp and the mussels are firm and opaque. Two or three skewers at a time — crowding drops the oil temperature.
7. Drain on a rack, salt immediately, serve with the tarator and lemon.

Where you'd actually eat it: Ortaköy and Kumkapı stands, and every fish meyhane's ara sıcak list. Beer, mostly — this is the one meze that fights raki rather than serving it.

From behind the bar: Keep the batter bowl sitting on ice. Cold batter into hot oil is the whole mechanism behind a crust that lasts more than ninety seconds.

You need

• 1 kg / 2 lb lamb small intestine, cleaned by the butcher
• 500 g / 1 lb mixed lamb sweetbreads, heart and kidney
• 2 tbsp lemon juice and 2 tbsp coarse salt, for cleaning
• 1 tbsp dried oregano
• 1 tbsp pul biber
• 1 tsp ground cumin
• 2 tsp salt, 1 tsp black pepper
• 2 tomatoes and 2 green peppers, diced, to finish
• Crusty bread or half a baguette

Method

1. Turn the intestines inside out under running water and scrub them with coarse salt and lemon juice, twice. Rinse until the water runs clear and there is no smell. If you are squeamish about this step, order it out instead.
2. Cut the offal into 3 cm chunks, toss with oregano, pul biber, cumin, salt and pepper, and thread onto two long flat skewers.
3. Take one length of intestine and wind it tightly around the skewered offal end to end, overlapping like a bandage, then wind a second layer back the other way. Tie off the ends.
4. Set up a charcoal grill for indirect heat, or heat an oven to 350F/175C with a rack over a tray.
5. Cook slowly, turning every 10 minutes: 75-90 minutes in the oven, up to two hours over coals. The outside should be dark, tight and crackling. Offal gets cooked all the way through — 165F/74C at the center of the bundle, no pink, no exceptions.
6. Slide it off the skewer onto a board and chop hard with a heavy knife or a metal spatula, mixing the crisp casing through the soft interior.
7. Return the chopped mix to a hot flat pan for 2 minutes with more oregano and pul biber, throw in the tomato and pepper, then stuff it into split bread.

Where you'd actually eat it: Kokoreççi windows on Beyoğlu side streets and in Kadıköy, open long after the meyhanes shut. Eaten standing up, with ayran or one more beer.

From behind the bar: A halal or Greek butcher will sell cleaned lamb intestine to order, usually with a day's notice. Do not attempt this with anything frozen and unlabeled.

You need

• 16 pitted prunes
• 8 rashers thin streaky bacon, halved
• 3 oz (85 g) Stilton, or mango chutney
• Black pepper
• 16 cocktail sticks, soaked in water

Method

1. Stuff each prune with a little Stilton or a quarter teaspoon of mango chutney. Pick one and stay with it.
2. Stretch each bacon piece thin with the back of a knife — thin bacon crisps, thick bacon flops.
3. Wrap one prune per piece and pin with a soaked cocktail stick.
4. Roast on a rack at 400F/200C for 15-18 minutes, turning once, until the bacon is crisp and the fat has rendered out.
5. Grind black pepper over and rest 3 minutes. Straight out of the oven they will take the roof of your mouth off.

Where you'd actually eat it: A Victorian savory course that came back with the bar-snack revival. Handed round with dry sherry or a dark ale, standing, before dinner is a real plan.

From behind the bar: Use a rack over a tray. Sitting in their own rendered fat, the undersides never crisp and you get bacon-flavored steam.

You need

• 1.5 lb (700 g) chipolatas or small pork sausages
• Black pepper
• English mustard
• Cocktail sticks

Method

1. Separate the chipolatas. Don't prick them — piercing lets the fat out and you get dry sausage.
2. Roast on a rack at 400F/200C for 20-25 minutes, turning once, until browned all over and 160F/71C at the center.
3. In the last 3 minutes, brush with a spoonful of the pan fat and grind black pepper over.
4. Serve hot, one cocktail stick each, with a bowl of English mustard in the middle.
5. Refill the mustard before it runs low. Somebody is always double-dipping.

Where you'd actually eat it: Christmas-party food that never left the bar snack list. A couple of quid, a stick, a pot of mustard — something salty that keeps everybody standing there for one more.

From behind the bar: Chipolatas, not breakfast links with maple in them. Butcher pork sausage, thin gauge, plain seasoning, nothing sweet.

You need

• 2 lb (900 g) boneless chicken thigh
• 1/2 cup whole-milk yogurt
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1 onion, grated
• 2 garlic cloves, crushed
• 1 tsp pul biber (Turkish red pepper flakes)
• 1 tsp dried oregano
• 2 tsp salt
• Black pepper
• Lavash or pide bread
• 1 onion, sliced thin, tossed with sumac and parsley
• Chili sauce and pickled chilies

Method

1. Cut the thigh into 1.5-inch pieces. Breast dries out on a grill; thigh is what the ocakbaşı uses.
2. Grate the onion and squeeze the juice through a sieve. Use the juice, discard the pulp — pulp burns and turns bitter.
3. Marinate the chicken in yogurt, oil, onion juice, garlic, pul biber, oregano, salt and pepper. Four hours minimum, overnight better, in the fridge.
4. Thread onto flat metal skewers, snug but not crushed together.
5. Grill over hot coals 4-5 minutes a side, turning, until charred at the edges and 165F/74C at the center.
6. Rest 3 minutes directly on the flatbread so the juices soak in. Serve with sumac onions, parsley and chili sauce.

Where you'd actually eat it: Green Lanes and Dalston ocakbaşıs run late and fill up the moment the pubs empty. Efes or şalgam, real charcoal in the window, fluorescent light, no atmosphere required.

From behind the bar: Flat skewers, not round. Round ones spin in your hand and the meat cooks on one face while you swear at it.

You need

• 8 salt-cured anchovy fillets in olive oil (Cantabrian if you can find them)
• 8 pitted manzanilla olives
• 16 piparras (pickled Basque guindilla peppers), stems trimmed
• Extra virgin olive oil
• 8 cocktail sticks

Method

1. Drain the anchovies briefly on paper so they are not dripping, but do not rinse them.
2. Thread a piparra, folding it in half, onto the stick.
3. Weave an anchovy fillet on in an S, then a second folded piparra, and finish with an olive on the point.
4. Lay them on a small plate, spoon over a little of the anchovy oil plus fresh olive oil, and serve cold.
5. Eat in one go, all three elements together. Taking it apart defeats the entire object.

Where you'd actually eat it: Standard on every Basque counter in Madrid and on the vermouth counters too, Taberna de la Dolores among them. Drink it with a caña, txakoli, or dry vermouth.

From behind the bar: Cheap anchovies are mush and salt. This has three ingredients — buy the good tin or make something else.

You need

• 1 1/4 lb / 600 g pork loin or shoulder, in 1 in / 2.5 cm cubes
• 3 garlic cloves, crushed
• 2 tsp sweet pimentón, 1/2 tsp hot pimentón
• 1 1/2 tsp ground cumin
• 1 tsp ground coriander
• 1 tsp dried oregano
• 1/2 tsp turmeric (color)
• 3 tbsp olive oil, 1 tbsp lemon juice, salt
• Bamboo skewers, soaked 30 minutes
• Bread and lemon to serve

Method

1. Mix everything except the meat into a paste. Coat the pork, cover, and refrigerate 4-24 hours. Overnight is better.
2. Thread 4-5 cubes per skewer, pressed together but not crushed, leaving a little space at the tip.
3. Get a griddle or grill properly hot. Cook 2-3 minutes per side over direct high heat, turning through four faces, until charred at the corners.
4. Check with a probe: pull at 145F / 63C in the center and rest 3 minutes. Shoulder can go a little further and stays juicy; loin will not forgive you.
5. Serve on the skewer over a slice of bread that catches the juice, with lemon.

Where you'd actually eat it: Neighborhood bars and every summer verbena in the city, cooked on a griddle by the door. Beer, and preferably outdoors in August at eleven at night.

From behind the bar: Shoulder over loin if you have the choice. There is enough fat in it to survive a hot grill and a distracted cook.

You need

• 700 g pork shoulder, sliced 1/4 inch / 6 mm thick
• 6 guajillo chiles, stemmed and seeded
• 2 ancho chiles, stemmed and seeded
• 40 g achiote paste
• 60 ml white vinegar
• 120 ml orange juice
• 4 garlic cloves
• 1 tsp dried oregano, 1/2 tsp cumin, 2 cloves
• 1/2 fresh pineapple
• Corn tortillas, white onion, cilantro, limes
• Salsa verde or salsa de árbol
• Salt

Method

1. Toast the guajillos and anchos on a dry skillet 30 seconds a side, then soak in hot water 20 minutes.
2. Blend the drained chiles with the achiote paste, vinegar, orange juice, garlic, oregano, cumin, cloves and 2 tsp salt into a thick marinade.
3. Coat the pork slices, layering them in a dish. Refrigerate 6-24 hours. Under 6 hours the achiote sits on the surface and never gets in.
4. Home version, be honest about it: you do not have a trompo. Either stack the slices tightly on a vertical skewer with pineapple chunks on top and roast at 425F/220C for 40-45 minutes, or sear the slices flat on a ripping hot skillet, 2 minutes a side. Either way take the pork to at least 145F/63C internal.
5. Rest 3 minutes, then chop the meat fine on a board. Char pineapple slices in the same pan and dice them.
6. Serve on doubled warm tortillas: meat, pineapple, chopped onion, cilantro, salsa, lime. Two per person is a lie you tell yourself.

Where you'd actually eat it: El Vilsito, El Tizoncito, and a thousand corners that only open after dark. Eaten standing at the counter after the cantina closes, with a Coke or a Victoria.

From behind the bar: The trompo's real gift is the crust. Get the pan hotter than feels sensible and do not crowd it, or you steam the pork and lose the whole point.

You need

• 4 nopal paddles (cactus), fresh
• 8 knob onions or thick spring onions
• 2 tbsp neutral oil
• Coarse salt
• 2 limes
• Ground chile piquín or chile de árbol
• Salsa martajada and warm corn tortillas, to serve

Method

1. Scrape the spines and nodes off both sides of the paddles with the back of a knife, then trim the thick outer edge. Rinse.
2. Score the paddles lightly on both sides in a crosshatch. This lets the sticky liquid escape rather than pool.
3. Oil and salt the paddles and the onions.
4. Grill or plancha over high heat, 4-6 minutes a side, until the bright green turns olive-drab and the surface goes dry and blistered. Cooking off the slime is the entire job — pull them early and the texture is unpleasant.
5. Grill the onions 8 minutes, turning, until soft and blackened in patches.
6. Slice the paddles into strips. Dress with lime, coarse salt and chile powder, and serve with the onions, salsa and tortillas.

Where you'd actually eat it: Pulquerías and mezcalerías, and the grill stalls outside markets. Pulque natural, or mezcal with an orange slice.

From behind the bar: Sal de gusano is made from moth larvae, so it is not vegan despite what half the internet says. Use plain sea salt with ground chile instead.

You need

• 1.5 lb / 700 g luganega sausage, in one coil
• 2 tbsp dry white wine
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• Sage leaves
• 4 cups / 1 L water
• 1 cup / 160 g coarse polenta (bramata)
• 1 tsp salt
• 2 tbsp butter
• Mostarda di Cremona, to serve
• Wooden skewers

Method

1. Bring the salted water to a boil, rain in the polenta whisking, then cook on the lowest heat 40 to 45 minutes, stirring often. Beat in the butter, pour into a tray 1/2 in / 1.5 cm deep, cool and firm up.
2. Skewer the sausage coil crosswise with two soaked wooden skewers so it holds its shape and turns as one piece.
3. Brush with oil, tuck sage under the skewers, and grill over medium heat — about 400F / 205C — for 8 minutes a side, turning once.
4. Splash the wine over it in the last 2 minutes. Internal temperature 160F / 71C for pork sausage. No exceptions and no pink.
5. Cut the polenta into squares and grill or pan-fry them until crusted, 3 minutes a side.
6. Rest the sausage 5 minutes, cut into 1 in / 2.5 cm lengths, spear each with a toothpick over a polenta square.
7. Serve with mostarda alongside.

Where you'd actually eat it: Osterie and winter market stands, and every alpine-leaning place in the city. Bonarda or a plain lager, mostarda di Cremona on the side.

From behind the bar: Luganega is mild, cheese-laced and coarse. If you can't get it, use a plain coarse pork sausage — but skip the fennel-heavy Italian-American kind.

You need

• 700 g boneless chicken thigh, cut into 1 inch pieces
• 6 scallions, white and light green parts, cut into 1 inch lengths
• 1 tbsp soy sauce, for the marinade
• 1 tbsp mirin, for the marinade
• 1/2 tsp black pepper
• 3 tbsp gochujang
• 2 tbsp rice syrup or honey
• 1 tbsp soy sauce, for the glaze
• 1 tbsp mirin, for the glaze
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 tsp toasted sesame oil
• Bamboo skewers, soaked 30 minutes

Method

1. Toss the thigh pieces with the marinade soy sauce, mirin and pepper. Leave 20 minutes.
2. Thread chicken and scallion alternately, four or five pieces of meat per skewer, packed snug but not crushed.
3. Whisk gochujang, syrup, the glaze soy sauce and mirin, garlic and sesame oil into a brushable glaze.
4. Grill over medium-hot coals or a ridged pan on medium-high, turning every 2 minutes, for about 8 minutes total.
5. Brush with glaze over the last 3 minutes only, turning twice so the sugar colors instead of burning.
6. Pull when the thickest piece reads 165F/74C. Rest 2 minutes, then eat straight off the stick.

Where you'd actually eat it: Sold from carts outside every university gate and subway exit in Sinchon and Hongdae. Eaten standing up with a can of beer before anyone commits to a real bar.

From behind the bar: Glaze late. Gochujang and syrup both scorch fast, and a burnt skewer tastes of nothing but ash and regret.

You need

• 6 cups water
• 1 piece dried kelp, 5 inches
• 15 dried anchovies, heads and guts removed
• 1 onion, halved
• 1 large white radish (mu), 4 inch piece, sliced thick
• 300 g flat fish cake sheets (eomuk)
• Bamboo skewers
• 2 tbsp soy sauce
• 1 tsp fine salt
• 2 scallions, sliced
• 1 green chili, sliced (optional)
• Soy sauce and mustard for dipping

Method

1. Bring water, kelp, anchovies, onion and radish to a simmer. Pull the kelp after 5 minutes.
2. Simmer everything else, uncovered, for 20 minutes at a lazy bubble. Strain and discard the solids except the radish.
3. Fold each fish cake sheet accordion-style and thread onto a skewer so it stands up in a wave.
4. Season the broth with soy sauce and salt. It should taste clean and slightly under-salted, since you will drink it.
5. Slide the skewers in and simmer 5 to 7 minutes, until the fish cake plumps and the broth turns faintly cloudy.
6. Add scallion and chili. Serve the skewers upright in the pot, broth ladled into small cups on the side.

Where you'd actually eat it: Every cart outside every subway exit, and every tent bar after midnight. The broth refill is free and nobody has ever been charged for a third cup.

From behind the bar: Do not boil the anchovy broth hard. Rolling heat pulls out a bitterness you cannot season back out.

You need

• 1 lb (450g) boneless chicken thigh, skin on
• 2 naganegi or 4 fat scallions, white parts only (leek white works)
• 10 bamboo skewers
• 1/2 cup soy sauce
• 1/2 cup mirin
• 1/4 cup sake
• 2 tbsp sugar
• Shichimi togarashi, to serve

Method

1. Soak the skewers in water 30 minutes so they do not burn through.
2. Simmer soy, mirin, sake and sugar in a small pan over medium until reduced by a third, about 10 minutes. This is your tare. It keeps for weeks in the fridge.
3. Cut the thigh into 1-inch pieces, the negi into 1-inch lengths. Thread alternating chicken, negi, chicken, negi, chicken. Push tight.
4. Grill over charcoal or a very hot cast iron pan, 3 to 4 minutes a side, turning once.
5. In the last 2 minutes, dip each skewer in the tare and return it to the heat. Do it twice. The glaze should lacquer, not puddle.
6. Pull at 165F/74C at the thickest piece. Salt lightly, shichimi on the side.

Where you'd actually eat it: Yurakucho gado-shita, elbow to elbow under the Yamanote tracks, with a large draft Sapporo you did not have to specify.

From behind the bar: Order the shio version too — same skewer, salt only, no tare. Good yakitori-ya want you to taste the bird before you taste the sauce.

You need

• 1 lb (450g) ground chicken thigh
• 2 tbsp finely minced scallion
• 1 tsp grated ginger
• 1 tbsp potato starch
• 1 tbsp white miso
• 1 tsp soy sauce
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 8 skewers
• 1/2 cup tare (see negima)
• 2 pasteurized egg yolks, to serve

Method

1. Mix chicken, scallion, ginger, potato starch, miso, soy and salt. Work it hard with one hand for 2 minutes until it turns sticky and pale. That stickiness is what holds it on the skewer.
2. Chill the mix 20 minutes. Cold meat is easier to shape.
3. With wet hands, press the mix into 8 flat logs about 4 inches long around the skewers.
4. Sear on a hot grill or cast iron, 4 to 5 minutes a side, without moving them for the first 3 minutes.
5. Brush with tare, return to heat 30 seconds, repeat twice.
6. Ground poultry goes to 165F/74C. Check one. Serve with a yolk in a small dish for dipping.

Where you'd actually eat it: Any yakitori counter in Shinbashi after the second beer, when someone at the table starts ordering for everybody.

From behind the bar: Use pasteurized eggs for the yolk. Japanese table eggs are graded and handled for raw eating; most American supermarket eggs are not.

You need

• 12 oz (350g) chicken skin, from thighs or backs
• 10 skewers
• Fine sea salt
• Lemon wedge, to serve
• Shichimi togarashi (optional)

Method

1. Freeze the skin 15 minutes. Cold skin is firm enough to thread; room-temperature skin is a wet rag.
2. Cut into strips about 1 by 3 inches. Thread each strip onto the skewer in tight folds, like pleating fabric.
3. Salt generously on both sides and let sit 10 minutes.
4. Grill over medium-low heat first, 10 to 12 minutes, turning often, so the fat renders out instead of flaring. Keep a lid nearby for flare-ups.
5. Move over high heat for the last 3 to 4 minutes to crisp. Total 14 to 16 minutes. Pull at 165F/74C.
6. Salt again, squeeze lemon, eat immediately. It goes soft within minutes.

Where you'd actually eat it: A standing counter in Yurakucho where the grill is at the window and the smoke is the advertisement. Drink a highball, not beer.

From behind the bar: Ask your butcher for skin — it is usually free or close to it. Save the rendered fat for fried rice.

You need

• 1 lb (450g) chicken livers
• 1 cup cold milk or cold water, for soaking
• 10 skewers
• 1/2 cup tare (see negima)
• Fine salt
• Shichimi togarashi or sansho pepper, to serve

Method

1. Trim off connective tissue and any green-tinged spots. Soak the livers in cold milk or water 20 minutes in the fridge, then rinse and pat very dry.
2. Cut into even 1-inch lobes. Thread 3 or 4 per skewer without crushing them.
3. Salt lightly. Grill over medium-high, 2 to 3 minutes a side.
4. Brush with tare and return to the heat twice, 30 seconds each pass.
5. Poultry offal goes to 165F/74C — but pull it the second it hits, because 30 seconds past that it turns chalky and grainy.
6. Sansho or shichimi on top. Serve with cold sake or shochu, not beer.

Where you'd actually eat it: A yakitori-ya in Shinbashi with plastic sheeting for walls, where the tare bucket is older than the staff. Pork liver is the motsuyaki shop next door.

From behind the bar: If the liver looks gray-brown and dry in the case, do not buy it. Fresh liver is glossy and deep red-brown.

You need

• 1 lb (450g) pork jowl or cheek meat (pork shoulder is the honest substitute)
• 1 naganegi or 3 fat scallions, cut in 1-inch lengths
• 10 skewers
• Fine sea salt
• Karashi (Japanese hot mustard), to serve
• Shichimi togarashi

Method

1. Cut the jowl into 1-inch cubes, keeping the fat on. Thread 4 pieces per skewer with a length of negi between each.
2. Salt hard on both sides. Rest 15 minutes at room temperature, no longer.
3. Grill over medium-high, 4 to 5 minutes a side, turning when the fat starts to run.
4. Whole-muscle pork is safe at 145F/63C, but jowl is worked muscle and connective tissue — take it to 160F/71C and let the fat render properly. It should be chewy, not soft.
5. Rest 2 minutes off the heat.
6. Serve with a blob of karashi on the plate and shichimi on the table. Do not sauce it.

Where you'd actually eat it: Shinbashi or Yurakucho, standing, a couple of hundred yen a skewer, with a lemon sour in a frosted mug.

From behind the bar: Jowl is at Mexican and Asian butchers as cachete or buta kashira. Shoulder works but loses the collagen chew that makes the cut.

You need

• 30 ginkgo nuts in the shell (autumn, Japanese groceries)
• Fine sea salt
• Short bamboo skewers

Method

1. Crack each shell with pliers or the flat of a heavy knife — a firm squeeze on the seam, not a smash. The kernel inside should stay whole.
2. Heat a dry heavy skillet over medium. Add the shelled nuts and a pinch of salt.
3. Roast 5 to 7 minutes, shaking constantly, until the brown skins loosen and the nuts turn from opaque yellow to translucent jade green.
4. Rub them in a dry towel and pick off the skins. Some will resist; leave them.
5. Thread 5 or 6 per short skewer, salt again while hot.
6. Serve immediately. They firm up and go rubbery as they cool.

Where you'd actually eat it: A yakitori counter in October when the ginkgo trees along the avenues drop and the whole city smells faintly of it. Hot sake.

From behind the bar: Ginkgo nuts contain ginkgotoxin. Adults should stop at about 10 in a sitting; do not serve them to children at all. This is a real limit, not a superstition.