Japan
Unagi Maki
Maki rolls with grilled eel, avocado and cucumber, glazed with unagi sauce
60 min·4 servings
unagi sauce
A thick, sweet-salty glaze of reduced soy sauce, mirin and sugar, originally made for grilled eel.
Unagi sauce is a Japanese tare, a reduced seasoning sauce made from soy sauce, mirin, sugar and often sake, traditionally brushed onto grilled eel. Bottled versions usually contain no eel, and only homemade ones sometimes gain extra depth from eel heads or bones. It tastes strongly sweet and salty with a dark, slightly caramel note and has a syrupy thickness. Over coals or under a grill it caramelises into a glossy coating, which is exactly what it is used for: as a glaze on grilled food and as a seasoning drizzled over rice or sushi, not as a cooking liquid. It is sold in bottles at Asian grocers or by mail order, and sometimes in the Asian aisle of larger supermarkets.
Substitute:
It is easy to make yourself by simmering equal parts soy sauce, mirin and sugar, with a splash of sake if you like, until syrupy; the result is essentially the same thing. Bottled teriyaki sauce comes close but is usually thinner, less sweet and often flavoured with ginger or garlic, so the glaze turns out less thick and glossy.
Used in · 2 recipes
Kansai (Osaka, Kyoto)
Unagi no Oshizushi
Osaka-style pressed sushi with grilled eel, egg and myoga
45 min·2 servings