Anago no Tempura (穴子の天ぷら, sea eel tempura)

A whole anago in batter looks like restaurant work, which is how a simple thing gets dressed up and frightens people. The fish is long, yes. It curls if you let it. But the method is not difficult, only unfamiliar: salt lightly, dry the skin well, flour it thinly, and fry it in batter cold enough to stay loose around the flesh.

The one detail that decides this dish is dryness before the batter. Anago is tender and a little sweet, with skin that can carry moisture. If you batter it wet, the coating slides away and the oil sulks. Pat it dry, dust it with flour, and the batter clings in a thin, uneven veil. That unevenness is what you want. Tempura should not wear armor.

In the rhythm of a meal, anago no tempura is a fine main dish for a small gathering, served with grated daikon and tentsuyu, the dipping broth of dashi, soy, and mirin. Buy the fish glistening fresh and already split if you can. No sauce will rescue tired eel, and here we hide nothing. When the ingredient is right, the work is mostly to keep from spoiling it.