Honetsukidori, Marugame's bone-in chicken

From: Chasing the cherry blossoms across spring Japan

Honetsukidori topped with radish sprouts

A bone-in chicken leg roasted in an oven, a dish rarely found elsewhere in Japan. It is said to have started at a Marugame eatery in the 1950s, inspired by a Hollywood film the owner saw, in which a woman bites heartily into a piece of fried chicken. There are two kinds: chewy, flavorful oyadori (mature hen) and tender hinadori or wakadori (young chicken), usually seasoned with a garlicky spice mix. Dipping cabbage or rice balls in the juices is recommended too.

Sources: city.marugame.lg.jp my-kagawa.jp

This moment in the journey

Honetsukidori, and a trip only the blossoms can plan

Dinner was honetsukidori, a Kagawa specialty. On a night street in Marugame I found a shop with a sign reading Honetsuki Marugame Dori, and a big honetsukidori sign standing by the door.

A mug of beer to start. Then came a bone-in chicken leg, heaped with radish sprouts. I gripped the bone with a paper napkin and bit right in. With this dish, the very act of tearing into it makes it taste even better.

This cherry blossom trip was supposed to start in Kyushu and simply head north. Instead it took me unexpectedly east and west. Only the cherry blossoms know where I'm going next, and that's part of the fun.

Watch this scene on YouTube7:48

Read this scene in the full journey