🐟 Unagi Kabayaki
Kabayaki is the Japanese method of splitting eel, threading it on skewers and grilling it over charcoal while basting it repeatedly with tare, a sweet soy-based sauce. The result is smoky, glossy and tender. Unagi kabayaki is served with a bowl of rice on the side and a sprinkle of sansho pepper.
Diets
Allergens
Contains (in a typical recipe):
What it is made of
Recipe
Ingredients
- 400 g eel fillets
- 600 g cooked short-grain rice
- 60 ml soy sauce
- 60 ml mirin
- 30 g sugar
- Sansho pepper, to taste
Method
- Simmer soy sauce, mirin and sugar for 8–10 minutes until syrupy.
- Thread the eel fillets onto skewers and grill skin-side down over high heat for 4–5 minutes.
- Flip, grill 2–3 minutes, then baste with tare and grill 1 minute; repeat the basting two or three times.
- Serve with rice on the side and sansho to sprinkle.
How to make it lighter
- Use a smaller rice portion (about 120 g) and add a side of cucumber or pickled vegetables.
- Brush on the tare instead of pouring it — the sauce is mostly sugar and soy.
- Eel is rich in fat; a 70–80 g piece is a satisfying single serving.
History
Grilling eel over charcoal and glazing it with a sweet soy-based sauce became popular in Edo (today's Tokyo) in the 18th–19th centuries. Eating eel on the midsummer Day of the Ox is a custom still widely kept in Japan. The name is often said to come from the cattail spike (gama), which the skewered eel once resembled.
Count it in one photo
Point your camera at the table — Me Nutrition recognises Unagi Kabayaki and every other dish, with calories and macros for each. Ate only half? Slide it.
Download on the App StoreSimilar dishes
Values are estimates per 100 g for a typical recipe; home and restaurant versions vary. Diets and allergens are worked out from the ingredients of a typical recipe — always check with whoever cooked the dish. Not medical advice. Nutrition data: Me Nutrition dish database v13. How we count →