Dearly Departed, Really Raw

11.07.06

Chicken sashimi. Yep, raw chicken. It freaks people out. But I can’t get enough of it. And now I can’t get it. I’m devastated. The only place I’ve had it as a menu item is at Yakitori Totto (251 W. 55th St, NYC). Walking into the second-floor restaurant is like entering Japan, and after two and a half years of having lived there, I feel like I’m visiting an old friend. In Japan, chicken sashimi is common enough that I could have had it at my usual pizza place in Osaka. The delicious version at Totto is actually tataki (where the meat is lightly cooked outside, leaving the interior very raw). This is probably more for appearance than flavor. It is tossed with shiso leaf and ume (pickled salted plum), which marry the flavors beautifully. It was my staple order, and, I’m sad to report, for the last two months it’s been off the menu due to lack of popularity. Totto gets its chicken from an Japanese organic-chicken farmer upstate, and so they are clean, tasty birds with real flavor. I’ve asked if the restaurant might consider bringing back the sashimi as a special for fans like me. In the meantime, I’m scouring the city for another chicken-sashimi safe house.

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