Ingredients
Eel
- 2 filletsprepared kabayaki eel, grilled and sauced, sold frozen or chilled
Tare sauce
- 100 mlsoy sauce
- 100 mlmirin
- 50 mlsake
- 50 gsugar
- the eel bones, if you have them
Rice
- 400 gJapanese short-grain rice, freshly cooked
To finish
- sansho pepper
- shredded nori, optional
- pickled ginger
To serve
- in a lacquered bowl with a lid
- with clear soup and pickles
Directions
- Combine the soy, mirin, sake and sugar and simmer until reduced by about a third. If you have the eel bones, grill them first and simmer them in the sauce, then strain them out.
- Cook Japanese short-grain rice and have it freshly made and hot.
- Rinse the sauce off the packaged fillet under warm water and pat it dry. A minute of steaming with sake softens the flesh and removes any muddiness, and it is a standard restaurant step.
- Brush it with the tare, grill for a minute, brush again, and repeat two or three times. Repeated thin glazes rather than one thick coat is the technique.
- Put hot rice in a deep bowl and spoon a little tare over it.
- Lay the eel on top and spoon more tare over. Cover the bowl with its lid for a minute before serving.
- Serve sansho pepper alongside. Serve with clear soup and pickles.
Technique
- Japanese eel is listed as endangered and eel farming relies on wild-caught juveniles.
- Eel blood is toxic raw and eel is therefore always cooked.
- Kanto steams before grilling and Kansai does not.
Substitutions
- Prepared kabayaki eel, which is what most households use.
- Grilled mackerel or saury with the same tare, as a different dish entirely.
Variations
- Unaju, served in a lacquered box.
- Hitsumabushi, the Nagoya version eaten three ways.
- Anago, sea eel, which is a different and more sustainable species.
History
A bowl of rice topped with unagi, freshwater eel, grilled and basted repeatedly with a sweet soy-based glaze called tare, documented across Japan for many centuries, with eel specifically associated with Doyo no Ushi no Hi, a traditional midsummer day on which eating unagi is believed within Japanese folk custom to help combat the fatigue and appetite loss brought on by Japan’s intense summer heat. Its preparation, requiring the eel to be carefully filleted, skewered and grilled while being repeatedly basted in the sweet glaze to build up layers of flavour, is considered a highly specialized skill within Japanese cuisine, with dedicated unagi chefs traditionally training for many years to master the technique. Unadon remains a prized and relatively costly traditional dish across Japan.
Frequently asked questions
What is Unadon?
Unadon is a main from Japan: grilled eel lacquered with sweet kabayaki sauce over rice. A bowl of rice topped with unagi, freshwater eel, grilled and basted repeatedly with a sweet soy-based glaze called tare, documented across Japan for many centuries, with eel specifically associated with Doyo no Ushi no Hi, a traditional midsummer day on which eating unagi is believed within Japanese folk custom to help combat the fatigue and appetite loss brought on by Japan’s intense summer heat. Its preparation, requiring the eel to be carefully filleted, skewered and grilled while being repeatedly basted in the sweet glaze to build up layers of flavour, is considered a highly specialized skill within Japanese cuisine, with dedicated unagi chefs traditionally training for many years to master the technique. Unadon remains a prized and relatively costly traditional dish across Japan.
How long does Unadon take to make?
Unadon takes 20 min of preparation and 20 min of cooking. The recipe makes 2 servings. It is rated medium to make.
What can I substitute in Unadon?
Yes, within limits. Prepared kabayaki eel, which is what most households use. Grilled mackerel or saury with the same tare, as a different dish entirely.
What is the most important thing to get right in Unadon?
Brush it with the tare, grill for a minute, brush again, and repeat two or three times. Repeated thin glazes rather than one thick coat is the technique.
