Unadon

Unadon — grilled eel glazed with sweet-savory tare sauce over steamed rice — is one of Japan's most prized comfort foods and a centuries-old tradition tied to midsummer stamina eating. The eel is split, skewered, steamed to render its fat, then grilled over binchōtan charcoal and lacquered repeatedly with the house tare, a sauce that intensifies with each brushing.

Serves: 4

Ingredients

Eel

• 4 fillets unagi (freshwater eel), about 150g (5 oz) each — pre-kabayaki (pre-cooked) fillets work well
• 240g (1¼ cups) Japanese short-grain rice, cooked

Tare sauce

• 120ml (½ cup) soy sauce
• 120ml (½ cup) mirin
• 60ml (¼ cup) sake
• 2 tbsp (25g) sugar
• 1 tbsp (15ml) hon-dashi or a 10cm piece of kombu simmered in 60ml water

Garnish

• Sansho pepper (Japanese prickly ash), to taste
• Toasted nori, cut into strips (optional)
• Pickled ginger

Instructions

1. Make the tare: combine soy sauce, mirin, sake, sugar, and dashi in a small saucepan. Simmer over medium heat for 10–12 minutes until slightly thickened and glossy. Cool before using; tare deepens in flavour over days.
2. If using pre-kabayaki eel: steam fillets in a bamboo steamer for 5 minutes to warm through and restore tenderness.
3. Preheat a grill, grill pan, or oven broiler to high. Grill eel skin-side down for 1–2 minutes, then flip. Brush generously with tare and grill for another 1–2 minutes. Repeat brushing and grilling twice more — 3 coats of tare in total — until the eel is lacquered, caramelised, and fragrant.
4. Divide hot rice into four deep lacquer or ceramic bowls (donburi). Lay one eel fillet over each bowl and spoon over an extra tablespoon of tare.
5. Dust lightly with sansho pepper and serve immediately.

Cook's Notes: Sansho pepper is not optional — its citrusy, tongue-numbing character is the traditional counterpoint to the rich eel. Leftover tare keeps in the refrigerator for months; traditional restaurants replenish the same pot for years.