How to grill jingisukan
Jingisukan is a dish where the grilling changes the taste outright. Whether it is your first time or your first trip to Sapporo, follow this order and you will not go wrong. If anything is unclear, just ask any member of our staff.
Before you start
Every table has a shichirin brazier burning binchotan charcoal. The seat charge (500 yen per person) includes our Oyuki vegetable platter, and preparing the pan begins with those vegetables. Seating is 90 minutes.
Five steps
Lay the vegetables
Spread the Oyuki platter across the pan and wait until the vegetables soften. They are not only there for flavour: they bring moisture to the whole pan and stop the meat sticking. Do not rush this.
Spread the fat
Push the vegetables out to the rim, then spread the fat melting in the centre across the whole grilling surface. Lamb fat is the single best seasoning in this dish.
Grill in the centre
Put the meat in the middle of the pan, where the heat is strongest. Lay it down and leave it. One side at a time, without turning it repeatedly.
Judge the doneness
When the red has gone, it is ready. Overcook it and it turns tough. The vegetables at the rim fry gently in the fat running off the meat.
Sauce and condiments
Eat the first slice with nothing on it. That is when you can taste what two days of Rausu salt has done. This is especially true of the Premium Salt Jingisukan. From the second slice, try our house dipping sauce, and our own condiments when you want to change the register. The more often people come, the more of them eat every first slice plain.
- Extra condiments¥100
- House-made kimchi¥400
- House-made pickled cucumber¥400
Common mistakes
Turning it again and again
Every flip cools the cooked face and gives moisture longer to escape. One side at a time.
Filling the pan with meat
The temperature drops and you end up steaming rather than grilling. A little at a time, in the centre.
Leaving vegetables in the centre
The centre belongs to the meat. Keep the vegetables at the rim.
If this is your first time
If you think you dislike lamb
We use only never-frozen chilled lamb, salt-aged for at least two days with Rausu sea salt. Because the fat oxidation held responsible for the smell is kept in check, the aroma stays mild.
Dining alone
We have fourteen seats at a single-slab counter, right in front of the charcoal, so you can watch the meat as it cooks.
Coming with children
Children and pushchairs are both welcome. If you call ahead, we can set aside a seat with room for a pushchair, or one that is easier for a small child.