Japanese Eel Unaju and Kabayaki Technique

Ingredients

• 4 whole freshwater eel (unagi), split down the back (Kanto style), skin on
• For the tare
• 120 ml mirin
• 120 ml sake
• 120 ml soy sauce
• 1 tbsp sugar
• For the unaju
• 700 g Japanese short-grain rice, cooked and extremely hot
• Accompaniment
• 4 eel liver (unagi no kimo), grilled
• 500 ml dashi, light, clear
• 8 mitsuba sprigs
• 4 yuzu zest rings, cut thin

Method

1. 1
   Prepare the tare. Combine mirin, sake, soy sauce, and sugar in a heavy saucepan. Bring to a gentle simmer over low heat, stirring until the sugar dissolves. Reduce slowly until the liquid coats the back of a spoon and carries a deep, glossy caramel colour. Do not discard this foundation — replenish with the same proportions of mirin, sake, and soy as the pot depletes over successive uses. The tare is done when a spoon drawn through it leaves a slow-closing line.
2. 2
   Skewer the eel. Thread metal or bamboo skewers through each eel fillet at even intervals to hold the flesh flat and prevent curling. The flesh must lie in full contact with the grill grate; any arch will produce uneven heat and compromise the glaze cycle.
3. 3
   Grill the eel over charcoal — Kanto (Tokyo) technique. Place skewered eel skin-side down over a hot charcoal bed. Grill until the flesh firms to the touch and the skin shows the first pale colour — it is not yet ready for the steamer until the flesh has lost its raw translucency.
4. 4
   Steam the eel. Transfer the grilled eel to a steamer. Steam for 10–15 minutes. This is the Kanto-defining step, and this is where the dish lives or dies: the steam denatures the collagen throughout the flesh, producing the characteristically soft, yielding texture that separates Kanto-style unaju from all other preparations. Understeaming leaves the flesh resistant; oversteaming begins to collapse its structure. The eel is ready when it yields completely to the slightest pressure of a finger but holds its form.
5. 5
   First glaze and return grill. Remove the eel from the steamer and brush generously with tare on all surfaces. Return to the charcoal grill. Grill for 2–3 minutes. The tare must catch and begin to caramelise — the correct cue is a smell of darkening soy and sugar with faint char, not burnt bitterness.
6. 6
   Second and third glaze cycles. Brush again with tare and return to the grill. Repeat this sequence three to four times in total. Each application burns slightly before the next is laid over it. The dish is ready when the surface presents a deep, lacquered, mirror-like gloss and the eel crackles faintly under the brush.
7. 7
   Compose the unaju. Pack freshly cooked, extremely hot rice into lacquered boxes. Lay the glazed eel immediately over the rice. The eel warms from the rice below and the environment above; cold rice produces cold eel at table — the temperature of the rice is structural, not incidental. The assembled box is ready when rising steam is visible at the rim.
8. 8
   Prepare the kimo-sui. Warm the clear dashi to a gentle simmer. Add the grilled eel livers. Ladle into small bowls. Lay mitsuba sprigs and a thin ring of yuzu zest over each. The soup is ready when the yuzu releases its scent at the moment of service.