Kansai (Osaka, Kyoto)
Ehōmaki
Fat sushi roll with simmered mushrooms, omelette and cucumber — eaten whole
60 min·4 servings
Grilled eel (unagi kabayaki)
Butterflied freshwater eel, grilled over charcoal and basted repeatedly with a sweet soy and mirin sauce — soft, rich, sweet and salty.
Unagi kabayaki is freshwater eel that is boned, opened flat, skewered and grilled while being brushed again and again with tare, a reduced sauce of soy sauce, mirin, sugar and sake; in eastern Japan it is also steamed partway through, which makes it even more tender. The flesh is very rich, soft and almost melting, the surface lightly caramelised with a lacquered sheen, and the flavour sweet, salty and smoky at once. Because the eel is already fully cooked, it only needs reheating, ideally briefly under the grill or in the oven, so the glaze regains its shine without the flesh drying out. It is sold frozen and vacuum-packed in Asian grocery stores, usually with a sachet of sauce, and by mail order.
Substitute:
Smoked eel from a fishmonger comes closest in richness and texture if you brush it with homemade tare of soy sauce, mirin and sugar and glaze it briefly under the grill; it does, however, taste clearly of smoke and is firmer, so it does not quite match the tender, sweet-grilled original.
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