Unagi Don Recipe

Sweet-savoury glazed eel over steaming rice — unagi don is a rich, comforting Japanese rice bowl that turns an ordinary evening into something special.

Prep time

15 mins

Cook time

20 mins

Total time

35 mins

Servings

4 servings

Calories

580

Ingredients

• 2 packs grilled eel (unagi kabayaki, about 250 g)
• 4 tbsp soy sauce
• 4 tbsp mirin
• 2 tbsp sugar
• 1 tbsp sake
• 400 g cooked short-grain rice
• 1 spring onion, sliced
• Toasted sesame seeds
• Sansho pepper or chilli (optional)
• Pickled ginger, to serve

Instructions

1. Simmer the soy, mirin, sugar and sake for 5 minutes until slightly syrupy to make the tare sauce.
2. Warm the eel gently in the sauce, turning once, until glossy and heated through.
3. Spoon hot rice into deep bowls and drizzle with a little of the warm tare.
4. Lay the eel slices over the rice in overlapping rows.
5. Brush with more tare and scatter over spring onion and sesame seeds.
6. Serve at once with pickled ginger and a pinch of sansho if you like.

Pro tips

• Buy pre-grilled vacuum-packed eel; grilling raw eel at home is a specialist job.
• Do not over-reduce the sauce or it becomes too salty once it cools.
• Serve the rice piping hot so the sauce melts into it.
• A soft egg yolk on top is a delicious extra.

Frequently asked questions