Unagidon: Japanese summer survival tool

Japanese summer is relentless, especially in the cities. The concrete jungle absorbs the sun heat while millions of air-conditioners pump out typhoons of hot area in the streets. It is in fact so bad that it is a national custom to send "midsummer heat fatigue" (natsubate) greeting cards inquiring how others are managing.

Unagi-don, grilled eel fillets served on top of hot rice, is supposed to provide strength to withstand the exhausting heat. There is even a special day, Doyou no Ushi no Hi, when its consumption is deemed especially beneficial.

Whether a commercial gimmick or Oriental wisdom, unagi-don is a superbly delicious dish. In fact, I enjoy it even more in winter. I cook it the Kansai way: cutting the eel's belly and basting the grilling fillets with tare made of sake, mirin and shoyu. Unlike epicurean Kansai merchants, stuck-up Edo (Tokyo) samurais hated that practice as it reminded them of seppuku (commonly and incorrectly known as harakiri).

The recipe is really simple:

1. If you have a whole eel: cut of the head, gut it, cut it in 6-7 cm pieces and removed the spine. Don't worry about the small bones.
2. Mix shoyu, mirin and sake half a cup each. Marinate the filets for at least an hour.
3. Grill the filets, regularly turning them over and basting with the marinade. Depedning on your grill takes up to 20-30 minutes.
   
4. Serve on top of freshly cooked Japanese rice. For the authentic taste only use short-grained japonica, long-grained jasmin and basmati just wont' be right.