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–+ servings

Hitsumabushi (Nagoya Style Grilled Eel/Unagi)

Prep Time30 minutes
Cook Time30 minutes
Total Time1 hour
Author Yuto Omura
Servings 2 servings

Ingredients 
 

Unagi Sauce

Unagi

  • 300 g filleted freshwater eels or conger eels/cat fish
  • 2 tbsp sake
  • 300 g cooked Japanese short-grain rice cook it a touch firm so it holds up under the dashi pour
  • 1 pinch Japanese sansho pepper optional but recommended

Extra condiments / toppings for hitsumabushi

Instructions 

Unagi Sauce

  • Add 3 tbsp turbinado sugar and 1 tsp dark brown sugar to a cold sauce pan. Place the pan on the stove and heat on medium-low.
    turbinado sugar and dark brown sugar in a pan to make unagi sauce
  • Once the sugar starts to melt, add 5 tbsp sake and 5 tbsp mirin. Bring to boil and let it bubble for 1-2 minutes while stirring occasionally.
    melted sugar, mirin and sake in a sauce pan to make unagi sauce
  • Pour in 5 tbsp Japanese soy sauce (koikuchi shoyu) and lower the heat to a simmer. 
    adding soy sauce to pan to make unagi sauce
  • Simmer until thickened slightly (about 10 minutes). Stir occasionally to prevent the sugar from burning and scoop out any foam that forms on top.
    Once thickened, take the pan off of the heat and leave to cool while you prepare the eel.
    thickening unagi sauce in a saucepan

Unagi don

  • Wash 300 g filleted freshwater eels with cold running water. Cover a chopping board with plastic wrap and place the eel on top. Cut each eel into 2-3 pieces by pressing a sharp knife into the area you want to cut and pushing the eel back and forth over the plastic wrap.
    cut unagi on a wooden cutting board lined with plastic wrap
  • Place the eel in a frying pan with the skin side facing down and pour in 2 tbsp sake.
    eel fillets in a frying pan to make unagi
  • Set the heat to medium-low and cover with a lid. Steam gently in the sake for 3 minutes, then remove the pan from the heat. Start preheating your grill or broiler on medium-high for 5 minutes.
    unagi steaming in a frying pan with a clear lid on the stove top
  • Line a baking tray with foil and place the eel fillets on top in a single layer with the skin side down. Slide under the grill and cook for 6 minutes. 
    eel (unagi) fillets on foil on a Japanese fish grill
  • Carefully flip the eel over and grill the skin side for 5 minutes or until lightly charred.
    unagi with the skin side facing up on a Japanese fish grill
  • Brush an even layer of sauce over the skin and place back under the grill for 30 seconds.
    Yuto Omura brushing the skin side of grilled unagi with homemade kabayaki sauce
  • Pull the tray out, flip the eel over and apply the sauce to the meat side. Return to the grill for 30 seconds, then pull, flip and repeat. Brush with sauce and grill for 30 seconds each time 6 times in total (3 times on each side).
    Yuto Omura brushing the flesh side of grilled unagi with homemade kabayaki sauce
  • Transfer to a heatproof cutting board and cut the eel fillets into finger-width strips.
    Grilled unagi (eel) cut into strips on a wooden chopping board
  • Pour about 1 tsp of leftover unagi sauce over each portion of rice and mix until evenly distributed.
    Cooked rice mixed with unagi sauce
  • Divide the rice into wooden bowls and top with the grilled eel strips. Brush liberally with more unagi sauce.
    hitsumabushi in a wooden bowl

How to enjoy hitsumabushi (3 ways)

  • Heat 300 ml dashi stock to about 80 °C (176 °F) and add a 2 g green tea bag and 2 tsp Japanese soy sauce (koikuchi shoyu). Brew for 2-4 minutes then remove the teabag. Serve in a teapot or heatproof jug on the table.
    strongly brewed green tea in dashi
  • Ask each diner to divide their bowl into quarters using a rice paddle or spoon.
    Dividing unagi hitsumabushi into quarters using a wooden rice paddle
  • Traditional: Remove the first quarter and place it in an individual rice bowl. Eat as it is or sprinkle with 1 pinch Japanese sansho pepper to taste.
    hitsumabushi in a rice bowl sprinkled with sansho pepper
  • Personal: Once you've finished the traditional serving, spoon the second quarter into the same bowl and add toppings you like such as 1 tbsp finely chopped green onions, 1 tbsp kizami nori (shredded nori) or 1 tsp wasabi paste.
    hitsumabushi in a rice bowl topped with chopped spring onions and kizami nori
  • Dashi chazuke: Place the third-quarter into your rice bowl and pour the prepared dashi tea over the top. This is also good with wasabi and additional toppings such as 1 tsp toasted white sesame seeds.
    Hitsumabushi in a green rice bowl steeped in dashi/green tea broth as "unagi chazuke"
  • Enjoy the final quarter in the way you liked best!
    A portion of Hitsumabushi with a green tea/dashi broth being poured over it

Notes

Tender and crisp, not one or the other: The whole bowl turns on this. Stop the eel before it fully chars and hold a heat that is firm but not fierce. Push too hard and the skin goes rubbery and the inside dries out.
Do not skip the short steam: Three minutes under a lid with sake is where the flesh loosens and the raw fishy edge drops away. Take raw eel straight to the grill and you fight a firmer, plainer fillet the whole way.
Watch the tare, not the clock: Sugar scorches fast and quietly, so a tare pushed too far turns bitter and one pulled too soon stays watery. Stop it the moment it coats a spoon.
Build the glaze in thin coats: One heavy layer slumps and burns before it sets. Brush a little, grill, repeat. The repetition is the technique that lays down the glossy layered glaze without scorching.
Cook the rice a touch firm: The third bowl gets a pour of hot dashi, and soft rice collapses into porridge under it. A slightly drier cook gives the grains something to hold so they drink the broth instead.