Seseri

Meat from the neck. Chickens can't move their eyes, so they constantly swivel their necks to watch their surroundings, and the muscle here gets worked hard as a result. The first bite is a firm, springy chew, and a deep savoriness spreads in right after. It's a noticeably tighter texture than thigh or breast, and with so little fat to fall back on, the flavor reads as something you chew your way into rather than something served up front. Thickness varies within a single skewer too, so the resistance shifts slightly from bite to bite.

The neck is thin and tangled with bone and sinew, so cleanly separating out just the meat takes real effort. Even a seasoned hand gets only about 40 grams from a single bird, so putting together more than a couple of skewers means pooling meat from several birds. The standard technique cuts across the grain, folding the thinner pieces back on themselves and bunching them toward the center of the skewer to build up thickness — uneven thickness there means uneven cooking.

Because the yield is low and the labor high, this cut is said to have often gone to vendors themselves or into staff meals rather than the menu in earlier days. It's since become a cut shops proudly advertise as rare, and among the leaner cuts on the menu, it's the one carrying an unusual role: delivering satisfaction purely through how firmly and richly it chews, rather than through fat. It's built to satisfy the jaw, not just the palate.