July

July 23 is Unagi no hi, or Unagi day! Unagi, or barbecued freshwater eel, is readily available all over Japan. Besides sushi, this is probably my favorite Japanese food. It can be a fantastic meal if you get a perfect place that selects its eel well and grills it over the coals just right. Often referred to as Kabayaki, the eel is deboned, filleted, and basted with a mixture of soy sauce, sugar, and sake before being steamed and/or barbecued over an open flame. There are two styles of properly preparing unagi; Tokyo and Osaka. Probably more, but this is what I could find! The significant difference between them lies in Tokyo’s addition of steaming to the process. In Tokyo, the unagi is barbecued, steamed, then brushed with sauce mixture, and then flamed broiled again. The steaming step removes excess fat and adds softness and a delicate to the eel. Osaka Style, on the other hand, consists of grilling the unagi over the open flame, basting in sauce, and repeating until the unagi reaches the perfect level of crispy char goodness. This style results in a more robust, flavored, supposedly more “masculine” dish. I am sure both styles are probably…