Tipsy Samurai brings 'yakitori-ya' vibe to Regina

Do you know what "yakitori" is? It's a Japanese grilled chicken skewer. Meanwhile, an "izakaya" is a Japanese after-work pub or tapas bar. So, a "yakitori-ya" is an izakaya specializing in yakitori skewers.

And Regina is home to one.

Tipsy Samurai has been serving customers since July, but crafting Japanese cuisine is nothing new for chef and owner Tony Yang who happens to be Chinese.

After moving to Regina from his native Beijing in 2004 to study business and marketing at the University of Regina, he worked at and eventually bought out Hanabi Sushi downtown.

Yang swore not to pursue a career in hotels or restaurants an industry employing many of his family members back in China but while working part-time at Hanabi, he discovered his passion for cooking. He learned sushi technique under the couple who ran the restaurant, saying "they treated me like a son." Yang eventually found he was happiest when people told him they loved his food, and he was particularly drawn to the nuances of Japanese cuisine.

"To me, so much of Japanese cuisine seems simple, but it is very complex. There so much technique. You have to practise, practise, practise."

Sushi is old. I think people in Regina are excited to try something new like ramen and yakitori.- Tony Yang, Tipsy Samurai head chef and owner

He operated the restaurant on his own for seven years, rebranding it as Wann Izakaya in 2016 and expanding its menu to include ramen and other dishes.

Now, with Tipsy Samurai in Regina's southeast, he wants to showcase yakitori, something he's seen take off in bigger cities.

"Sushi is old. I think people in Regina are excited to try something new like ramen and yakitori," he said.

"With Wann, we've offered a more traditional Japanese dining experience. With Tipsy, we're going for something more modern and urban, mixing Western and Asian together."

Yang said a lot of izakayas he's visited, both in Japan and in larger Canadian cities, have a social vibe convivial and in some cases, boisterous, like a house party. It's a feeling he wants to create at Tipsy Samurai.

"When everybody gets together, with your friends, you share a plate. It's like tapas. You can order a bunch of different plates and nobody cares who is whose. You enjoy the food together."

To learn how to properly prepare yakitori and other dishes, Yang travelled to Tokyo with his Wann Izakaya manager on a bit of food tour. He connected with a yakitori chef whom he met at the U of R years ago. He was looking for advice on how to 'westernize' his restaurant in advance of the Tokyo Olympics.

"So, we learned from each other," said Yang.

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There are a number of things that contribute to yakitori's distinctive flavour and texture. One is the way the chicken pieces are sliced and placed on the bamboo skewer.

Another factor is the "tare" barbecue sauce brushed on as the meat cooks. Tipsy Samurai's consists of sake, soy sauce, white and brown sugar, roasted chicken bones and some secret ingredients that Yang declined to share with me.

Thirdly, Yang sprinkles a mixture of sea salt and dried "kombu" seaweed on the skewers while they grill.

But the most important contributor to a yakitori's flavour? Charcoal. There is a particular type that is hard and dense enough to create the high heat required to sear the meat and caramelize the sauce, while not burning off a lot of ash, which can puff up as the fat drips off the meat and onto the red-hot coals. The smoke generated from the fat hitting the charcoal is the key to yakitori the skewers are set very close to the coals.

Yang explained there are different types of "binchotan" Japanese oak charcoal that one can import, and some of the highest-grade ones cost upwards of $30 per pound.

Beyond yakitori, Tipsy Samurai allows people to try something new with its alcohol menu, too. The restaurant carries Asian liquors to try by the ounce or in a cocktail, when purchasing a whole bottle of an expensive and exotic whisky at the liquor store might be daunting.