Unadon (うな丼, grilled eel over rice)

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Shichirin (small charcoal grill), or an oven broiler
• •Metal skewers, or bamboo skewers soaked for 30 minutes
• •Steamer basket, or a lidded skillet with a rack
• •Rice cooker, or a heavy pot with a tight lid
• •Small saucepan
• •Basting brush

Instructions

1. 1

   Wash the rice

   Rinse the rice in several changes of water until the water runs almost clear, then soak it for 20 minutes and drain. Cook it in a rice cooker with water to the proper line, or combine it with about 400ml water in a heavy pot, bring to a boil, cover, cook over low heat for 12 minutes, and rest off the heat for 10 minutes. Donburi rice should be hot and a little firm. Soft rice collapses under tare, and cold rice makes the glaze sit on top like paint.

2. 2

   Make the tare

   If you have eel head and bones, grill or broil them until browned. Combine the shōyu, mirin, 4 tablespoons sake, sugar, and the browned bones if using in a small saucepan. Simmer uncovered for 12 to 15 minutes, until the sauce reduces to about 3/4 cup and lightly coats a spoon. Strain if you used bones, then divide the tare into a clean serving bowl and a separate brushing bowl. The split matters: any brush that touches eel should not go back into the sauce you spoon over the rice.

   Tare should shine, not turn sticky like candy. If it strings from the spoon, loosen it with a splash of sake or water and warm it again.
3. 3

   Skewer the eel

   Pat the eel dry and cut the fillets into bowl-sized portions if needed. Run two skewers across each piece to hold it flat. As eel heats, the flesh tightens and wants to curl; the skewers keep the surface even so the grill and the glaze meet it cleanly.

4. 4

   Grill it plain

   Heat a charcoal grill to medium-high, or set an oven broiler with a rack close to the heat. Lightly oil the grate or rack. Grill or broil the eel without tare, turning once, 2 to 3 minutes per side, until both surfaces firm up, take a little color, and smell clean and sweet. This plain grilling is shirayaki. Add sweet tare now and the sugar burns before the eel is ready.

5. 5

   Steam it tender

   Set the grilled eel in a steamer basket, or on a rack in a lidded skillet with a little water below it. Keep the eel above the water, not sitting in it. Brush or sprinkle with the remaining 2 tablespoons sake, cover, and steam for 10 to 12 minutes, until a skewer slides in with little resistance and the flesh looks plump. This Kantō step is why the eel lies soft over the rice: the first grill sets the shape, and the steam loosens the flesh and renders the fat.

6. 6

   Glaze and finish

   Return the eel to the grill or broiler, flesh-side up. Brush on a thin layer of tare, cook for 30 to 60 seconds, then repeat two or three times, turning briefly to set the skin side as well. Watch the edges. The second grill tightens the tare into a soy-dark lacquer; thick coats slide off and scorch, while thin coats build a quiet shine.

7. 7

   Dress the rice

   Warm the donburi bowls if you can. Fluff the rice, spoon a little clean tare into each bowl, then add rice to just below the rim and drizzle a little more tare over the top. Don't flood it. The top layer should be seasoned, while the lower grains stay clean enough to balance the eel.

8. 8

   Build the bowls

   Slide out the skewers and lay the eel over the rice, skin-side down, in slightly overlapping pieces. Spoon on a narrow line of clean tare and finish with a small dusting of sanshō. Serve at once with pickles beside the bowl. Sanshō is not decoration; its citrus-pepper bite cuts the richness and wakes the glaze.

Chef Tips

• •Ask for unagi, freshwater eel, already split, boned, and cleaned. Anago, sea eel, is a fine fish, but it belongs to another dish. Use it here and the bowl changes its name in everything but lettering.
• •Choose traceable farmed eel from a seller who can tell you the source. Eel is not a casual ingredient now, and shun includes responsibility as well as flavor.
• •Good prepared kabayaki from a Japanese grocer is a sensible stand-in when raw eel is unavailable. Warm it under foil with a spoonful of sake, then uncover, brush with tare, and finish under the broiler until glossy. It isn't charcoal from your hands, but it keeps the dish's spirit.
• •This is one place we do not reach for dashi. Kabayaki tare is shōyu, mirin, sake, and sugar, deepened with eel bones if you have them. Dashi would thin the gloss you need.
• •Use sanshō sparingly. A little green bite makes the eel taste cleaner; too much makes the bowl taste of pepper and good manners gone missing.

Advance Preparation

• •The tare can be made up to 1 week ahead and refrigerated. Keep it clean: never store sauce that has touched a basting brush used on eel.
• •The rice can be washed and soaked up to 4 hours ahead, then cooked close to serving. Donburi wants hot rice.
• •Raw eel is best grilled just before serving. If using frozen prepared kabayaki, thaw it overnight in the refrigerator and rewarm it gently before the final glaze.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 350g)