Unagi Don – grilled eel in a bowl of rice
The day is so unusually hot that the very thought of spending it in a hot kitchen is overwhelming. I hope to be able to stack produce in the fridge, or at least make ice cream or another meal that will be in sub-zero temperatures. I’m glad I’ll miss sharpening my knives today, after all, I got a commendation recently for sharpening them like a pro. Today, I’m also going to learn how to complete a kitchen knife set that includes onlyall-purpose knives that can be used like all kinds of professional kitchen knives. I am extremely curious to see what the day will bring.
Today’s weather inspired Chef Satō to teach me one of Japan’s most popular summer dishes. Unagi Don is grilled eel in a bowl of rice. This is indicated by the name, as “unagi” means “eel” in Japanese, while “doburi” means “bowl” – although this term is also used to describe the type of food served in this dish. Interestingly, eel is traditionally eaten in Japan during the summer months, as it is thought to increase stamina, which is extremely necessary during hot weather.
To prepare Unagi Don – grilled eel in a bowl of rice, we need:
- 200 g rice
- 260 ml water
- Eel
unagi sauce:
- 2 ½ tablespoons of sugar
- 1 ½ tablespoons of sake
- 4 tablespoons of soy sauce
- 4 tablespoons mirin
How to prepare:
We start by preparing the sauce. In a small saucepan, combine mirin and sake and cook for a minute.
Reduce heat and add sugar, stirring until completely dissolved.
Add the soy sauce and simmer the sauce for 10 minutes, until thickened then set aside to cool.
Then wash the rice (200 g) and boil it in 260 ml of water.
Preheat the grill to about 250 °C.
We reach for kitchen knives, from which we choose the SDK-85 kitchen knife from the Ultimate Series, with which we cut off the head and other thick and tough parts of the fish. For filleting, I use the SKS-105 knife from the Ultimate Series. Filet the eel, then cut the fillets in half widthwise so that they fit halfway into the rice bowl.
Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil and place eel fillets greased with vegetable oil on top. Grill for 5 minutes until lightly browned.
Remove the fillets from the grill, brush them with the unagi sauce and grill again until the sauce is bubbling on top.
Serve the dish in a bowl with rice smeared with the remaining sauce, topped with the unagi fillets.
Odessaforum.BIZ.Ua –
SDK – a very well-made knife, large, heavy, no use of steel was spared