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–+ servings

Unaju (Japanese Grilled Eel on Rice)

Prep Time20 minutes
Cook Time35 minutes
Total Time55 minutes
Author Yuto Omura
Servings 2 portions

Ingredients 
 

Unagi Sauce

Unagi don

Instructions 

Unagi Sauce

  • Take a small sauce pan and add 3 tbsp turbinado sugar and 1 tsp dark brown sugar. Place it on the stove over a medium-low heat.
    turbinado sugar and dark brown sugar in a pan to make unagi sauce
  • When the sugar begins to melt, add 5 tbsp sake and 5 tbsp mirin. Boil for 1 to 2 minutes, stirring occasionally to evenly distribute the heat.
    melted sugar, mirin and sake in a sauce pan to make unagi sauce
  • Lower the heat to a simmer and add 5 tbsp Japanese soy sauce (koikuchi shoyu). If you want to add extra depth to your sauce, add grilled bones and heads from the eels.
    adding soy sauce to pan to make unagi sauce
  • Simmer for about 10 minutes or until thickened to a syrup-like consistency. Stir occasionally to prevent the sugar from burning. Remove from the heat and allow to cool while preparing the eel. (If you added the bones and heads, pour through a strainer and discard.)
    unagi sauce with eel heads and bones

Unaju

  • Wash 300 g filleted freshwater eels under cold running water and pat them dry with kitchen paper. Lay a sheet of plastic wrap over a chopping board and place the eel on top. Cut into halves or thirds by gently pressing a sharp knife into the area you want to cut, and then move the eel back and forth rather than sawing with the knife.
  • Take a large frying pan and place the eel skin side down in a single layer. Add 2 tbsp sake and place it on the stove.
  • Place a lid on and steam for 3 minutes over a medium-low heat. While you wait, preheat the grill or broiler on medium-high.
  • Lay a piece of foil over a wire rack, and place it over a baking tray. Arrange the steamed eel on the wire rack so that the flesh side will be facing the heat source, and grill for 6 minutes.
  • Flip the eel over and grill the skin side for 5 minutes or until lightly charred.
  • Brush the prepared sauce generously over the skin and return it to the grill for 30 seconds.
  • Flip and apply the sauce to the meat side, then grill for 30 seconds. Repeat the brushing and grilling 3 times on each side, 6 times in total.
  • Divide 2 portions cooked Japanese short-grain rice into a jubako (or similar box) for each portion, and brush the top with leftover unagi sauce.
    rice in a lacquerware box brushed with unagi (kabayaki) sauce
  • Arrange the unagi on top of the rice, drizzle with any leftover sauce and sprinkle with Japanese sansho pepper. Enjoy!
    grilled eel coated with homemade unagi sauce and shansho pepper over rice in a black lacquerware box

Notes

Steam with sake before you grill, every time: This single step decides melt-in-your-mouth versus rubbery and dried out. 
Keep the soy, sake, and mirin as they are: These 3 are the heart of the sauce and should not be swapped. Tamari can stand in for the soy for a gluten-free version, but the sake and mirin stay.
Lay the eel directly under the heat source: Line the fillets up right beneath the burner or broiler element so the whole surface chars evenly.
Set a timer but check regularly: Time the steam and the grill, then check by eye on top of that. Blackened skin on a home grill reads burnt and bitter, not smoky.