Eel: The Treat of the Sea

Eel is one of the most delicious dishes to eat in sushi, but eating is one thing and understanding it is another. Today I’m going to show you and give you a better understanding of this tasty treat.

The Types of Eel

There are two types of eel, there is freshwater eel or Unagi, which has a rich, bold taste to it. The other kind of eel is the saltwater eel or Anago, which has a natural sweetness flavor to it and has a very soft texture. Make sure when you order eel at a sushi bar ask what kind of eel it is.

Many ways of eating Eel

While eating as sushi is one way, there are other ways to eat eel. There is a dish called unagi donburi or unadon for short. It is translated to eel bowl and its a large bowl of rice with grilled eel that has a nice sweet soy-based sauce called tare and grilled till it caramelized. You can also eat Shirayaki, eel grilled with a little bit of sauce and salt on it; it’s very hot to eat but so worth it. There is also Kimosui; it’s a soup made from boiled eel liver, dashi, mirin, soy sauce, and Japanese mitsuba.

Two Style of Grilling

In Japan, there are many types of ways to grill and cook eel but there are two common ways to grill eel, and they are:

Kanto region style– the eel is first before its grilled with tare; this style makes the eel even more tender.
Kansai region style– it is the eel grilled with tare from start to finish.

There you go, eel in a nutshell and to end this here is a video from Chef Kanejiro Kanemoto explaining what it takes to create the perfect eel meal.

Let us know in the comments below on what you think about eel and if we forget about anything that makes eel so yummy