One question (and I ask this sincerely), if they are bringing in unagi from Tokyo, how would they do that without freezing it?
Depends on the restaurant’s sourcing capabilities and what they are willing to pay (and the channels they go through).
Cannot speak for Toku, but up here in Northern California, you can get fish either from the likes of Mutual Trading or JFC, or the other way is fish market company that does only fish. Likely those are prepackaged/precooked vacuum sealed packets, and they also sell large vats of tare and sauce for seasoning (or just use as is if it’s not super salty and concentrated).
There are other channels where you would need to develop a special relationship with (middle) wholesalers at some fish market to have the seafood shipped directly to the USA, and in some cases it is possible to even bypass the bigger markets like Toyosu (always better to ship direct, and more advantageous if there are unique sources of seafood, and this is just speaking in general).
If you go to some Japanese supermarkets, don’t know about SoCal, but at times you’ll find farmed eel from Japan (kabayaki). With the right heating technique (ideally charcoal) and properly seasoned tare, it can be somewhat acceptable as a quick fix but certainly not a substitute.
As a novice, it does not really seem apparent to me why any of those methods would be preferable to frozen eel shipped from Japan, thawed, and then cooked from raw here.
In LA, you can get freshwater shortfin eels from NZ that come in fresh but gutted and de-slimed. Not sure if it works for this application though as I’m unaware what species they prefer for this dish.
Live?
I always thought the best unagi shops in Japan kill, clean and cook on premises.
I suppose what I’m saying is–if you want the eel you eat in LA to be from Tokyo, they’re probably not going to be getting it live on-site in the LA restaurant, unless they are bringing an entire aquarium on a ship. I also think there are some misconceptions about live always being better than frozen when it comes to seafood, which is not always the case.
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You can get live eels, as you can get live crabs from Hokkaido you just have to be willing to pay for it.
The thing is I’ve been to restaurants in Tokyo where its 3000-3500 yen for a eel that was fresh and prepared on site. This place is charging twice the price for something that’s been frozen so it doesn’t seem like the best value for the sake of getting something that you can normally only get in Japan.
My best friend goes to one of those shops with her grandmother as tradition whenever she comes to visit. She sent me video once, and the sight is amazing. She said it was the best unagi she’s ever had in her life.
Nothing wrong with frozen, but don’t charge those prices and tell me on the menu that it is live when it’s not.
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Agree with that
I would be pissed by this too.
However, I was less pissed after checking their website (https://www.unagiya.co.jp/). It appears this could have been a product of negligence, not necessarily malice.
That is, they probably just copied their menu verbatim from one of their Japan-side English menus. The photo and design would definitely support this hypothesis. The picture quality and composition is almost exactly the same as their Japan-side menus. And it shows a bottle of Ishidaya–one of @beefnoguy’s unicorn sake that is definitely not regularly available in the US.
This place serves pre-cooked, frozen unagi until proven otherwise.
They need to reprint their menus.
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That’s both lovely and so cool…the butchering of the fresh product is awesome. The eelmongers work so fast and their cuts are so precise.
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The frozen Binchotan char-grilled unagi I’ve had comes from Kagoshima and upon checking January 2020 prices, Tokyo Central (fmr Marukai) is selling it at $31.98. I think Nijiya was selling it for $38.99.
Here’re some pics for the home cooks:
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How do you prep this?
@Ns1 There are various ways to prep and I hope others will chime in.
My way of prep:
- Thaw in fridge. Cut in half and refrigerate other half for later. Edit: Bring unagi to room temperature to minimize broiling time so the unagi won’t dry out under broiler.
- Heat under toaster oven broiler.
- Serve over rice with shredded or torn nori (briefly run over a gas flame to crisp before shredding). Use unagi sauce as desired. Sprinkle sansho pepper on top.
Optional: Make an egg crepe, cut into shreds and serve with unagi (this is a way to stretch out the meal). - Preferred soup - clear osuimono broth (instant is fine, add a tiny bit of lemon peel for fragrance and fresh or dried Mitsuba (Japanese parsley).
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FSB - you are THE BEST!
I was just setting up my binchotan grill!
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I’m supposed to be cutting out white rice but I guess exceptions need to be made. Thanks for the easy mode instructions.
@Ns1 Low carb unagi options:
•Unagi egg omelette
•UnaKyu - Unagi with cucumber. Slice Persian cucumber into thick lengthwise strips, top with strips of unagi, add sauce and sprinkle shredded nori seaweed on top (most of the local Japanese markets sell shredded nori “kizami nori” - I often use it when I have buckwheat soba noodles at home).
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Defrost. Wash off the eel. Cut into portions. Put it in a frying pan lined with Japanese kitchen paper. Sprinkle with sake or water (about 2 Tablespoons) and heat on low with a lid for 7-10 minutes. If there’s a packet of sauce, heat in a water bath in a mug or something while the unagi warms up. If not, heat up the unagi tare you bought in a jar in a similar fashion.
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