Glossary - Ingredients

Eel/Unagi or anago

Use the cooking method of seasoned grilling (kabayaki) to prepare ‘unadon’ (atop a bowl of steamed white rice) and ‘umakitamago’ (rolled eel omelet). Also recommended as a pickled dish after unseasoned (except for salt) grilling (shirayaki).

*Unagi eel are those found in freshwater and Anago eel are those found in saltwater.

The season for eel is from early summer (mid-May) through to the end of summer.

Details

Nutrition

Highly abundant in vitamins, including vitamin A. Also have a high content of fatty acids including DHA, EPA.

Connoisseur selection / storage

Eel are sold grilled unseasoned (shirayaki, seasoned only with salt) and grilled with seasoning (kabayaki, seasoned with ‘tare’, a mixture of soy sauce, cooking sake, sugar and other seasonings). Eel that are plump and firm in texture are of good quality. Store in a refrigerator and use up quickly.

Cooking Tips

Recommended for rice accompanied dishes such as ‘unadon’ (atop a bowl of steamed white rice) as well as for ‘umakitamago’ (rolled eel omelet) and pickled dishes.