Unagi Don

Making Unagi Don Ahead

Eat immediately. The tare keeps 2 months refrigerated and improves with each use.

Unagi Don: The Method

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1. Simmer the tare ingredients together for 8 to 10 minutes until reduced by about a third and syrupy enough to coat a spoon. Set aside.

   Mark done Start 8 min timer

2. If using vacuum-packed kabayaki, rinse off the packet sauce under warm water and pat dry — it is usually oversweet.

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3. Lay the fillets skin side down in a foil-lined tray, sprinkle over the sake, and cover tightly with foil.

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4. Steam in a 180°C / 350°F oven for 8 minutes to soften and plump the flesh.

   Mark done Start 8 min timer

5. Uncover, brush with tare, and grill under a high heat for 90 seconds until it bubbles.

   Mark done Start 90 sec timer

6. Brush and grill twice more, 60 seconds each time, until the surface is dark and glossy.

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7. Divide the hot rice between two deep bowls and spoon a little tare over the rice itself.

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8. Lay the eel on top, brush with a final coat of tare, and scatter with shredded nori.

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9. Serve with sansho pepper and pickled ginger at the table.

   Mark done

Related guide: Choosing rice.

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A Few Pointers

• Rinse the packet sauce off. It is far sweeter than a proper tare and masks the eel.
• Thin coats, repeated. One heavy brushing runs off and scorches.
• Sansho, not black pepper. The numbing quality is the point.

Some Background

The tare is brushed on in several thin coats with the eel returning to the heat between each, which builds a lacquer — one thick coat simply slides off and burns. Sansho pepper is not optional: its numbing citrus edge is what cuts the richness of the eel.

What to Put Next to It

A clear suimono soup · Cold sake or green tea · Cucumber sunomono

Sides from the same cuisine on this site: Japanese Milk Bread (Shokupan), Nasu Dengaku.

Swaps and Variations

• If you only have ground ginger, a quarter-teaspoon for each tablespoon of fresh is the ratio usually given; it tastes warmer and less bright than the fresh root.

Unagi Don Nutrition

No nutrition figures are given for this recipe: they cannot be worked out reliably from its ingredient list (some ingredient lines cannot be read). Why some recipes have none.

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