Unagi – [Sushi | Foodlore]

Description

• Unagi – (Grilled Freshwater Eel.) – Hiragana: うなぎ, Katakana:ウナギ , Kanji: 鰻

• About this fish:  Not to be confused with Anago 穴子 (Salt water, Conger eel.) which is slightly less rich, fluffier and oily than Unagi, Freshwater Eel is often Grilled BBQ style & Glazed with a thick, sugary Tane sauce coat, often topped with tasty savory sesame seeds. It’s often said that it takes “3 years to learn to skewer, 8 years to learn to fillet, and a lifetime to master grilling Unagi.” – Eel is never served raw, due to toxins in its blood, The fish are very rich in vitamins A & B, containing up to 100x more vitamin A than other fish! Because of this vitamin boost, Kabayaki (蒲焼) is often eaten as a stamina booster & favoured by workers and salarymen. – Eels are said to be especially lucky to eat during the heat of midsummer and there’s a tradition to eat Unagi in the summertime on specific dates; These specific dates are called “Doyou no Ushinohi” (土用の丑の日) or (丑の日) ‘Day of the Ox.’ – Supposedly this custom began at fast food stalls in the Edo period, and was based on an older bit of Chinese folklore that said that consuming food with a name beginning with “U“ would protect against the summer heat! (So, eating it on calendar dates which also started with ‘U’ would obviously amplify that!!) – For these reasons, Unagi is said to be synonymous with ‘success and moving up in life!’  – Conversely to that there are two popular methods of filleting Eel: Hara-biraki (Front Cut along the belly to the face) & Sen-Bikari. (Back Cut along the spine, tail to face.) Some superstitious chefs have said that its bad luck to do Hara-Bikari, as it brings Seppuku (A Samurai’s Honorable suicide) to mind! – Different Chefs will tell you different things though! (& perhaps mine was pulling my leg.) – There are also quite a few folk stories about white (albino) freshwater eels found across japan! (some places even venerate them as kami!)

[Sticker art by @Samkalensky, Part of my Nigiri Sushi/Foodlore collections.]