軟骨
Japanese for cartilage. If found on the menu in a Japanese
restaurant, usually refers to the T-shaped bar of cartilage
splitting the halves of a chicken breast. The two most
common preparations are nankotsu no yakitori,
cartilage chunks skewered on a stick and roasted, and
nankotsu-age, deep-fried bits of cartilage.
To my barbarian palate, nankotsu don't taste like much,
and their excessive crunchiness serves to remind you why
most people throw these away. Still, as far as cartilage
goes, nankotsu roasted or fried certainly beats the Taiwanese
traditional dish of pickled pig ears.