Ever since I was little, unagi was one of my favorite Japanese dishes. A sweet-salty sauce is brushed on an eel fillet and grilled until caramelized. You may be hesitant to give it a try because it is eel, but it just tastes like tender fish. Nowadays, you can purchase already prepared eel at many Asian markets. All you have to do is pop it in the oven and it’s ready to serve. In fact, I can rarely find eel fillets without the Japanese tare sauce already brushed on. I wanted to step my lunch a step further and prepare unagi don, a donburi type bowl with sweet simmered eggs on steamed rice. The combination is unbeatable!

Serves 2

382

Unagi don

25 minTotal Time

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Ingredients

• 2-3 cups rice, cooked
• 8 ounces unagi fillet
• 6 eggs
• 1 tbsp soy sauce
• 1 tbsp mirin
• 1 tbsp sake
• 1 tsp granulated sugar
• 1 tbsp oil
• 1 avocado, sliced
• nori for garnish

Instructions

1. Heat unagi fillet in the oven at 350 degrees until warm, about 5-8 minutes. Alternatively, heat on the grill over medium heat.
2. Heat non-stick saute pan over medium heat. Whisk eggs and add soy sauce, mirin, sake, and sugar. Add 1 tbsp oil to the pan and pour in the egg mixture. Cover and let cook undisturbed for 2-3 minutes. The eggs should still be wet but set. Remove from heat.
3. Portion rice into bowls. Top with eggs and unagi. Finish with crumbled nori and avocado slices. Serve immediately.

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**Helpful tips and common mistakes

If you are unable to find the already prepared version of unagi, you can make it yourself at home. The unagi sauce is simply a combination of soy sauce, sugar, mirin, and sake. You can also find unagi sauce sold in many Asian markets. I like to prepare a batch of the sauce and add it to other meats, fried eggs, meaty vegetables like mushrooms or eggplant, and even ramen noodles.

Cook the rice in a rice cooker, heat up the unagi, and simmer some eggs; it’s as easy as that! Whisk the eggs in a bowl with soy sauce, mirin, and sake. Heat a nonstick saute pan over medium heat. Add 1 tbsp oil and add the eggs, covering the pan. Cook for 2-3 minutes or until the eggs have set but not fully cooked. You want the eggs to be still wet; that is the true Japanese way! Remove from heat and distribute rice among the bowls. Carefully pour the eggs over the rice and top with unagi, nori and sliced avocado.

This unagi don was amazingly good. I mean, really good people. I may be a little biased since I already love unagi, but how can you go wrong with eggs, rice, and unagi? If you’re still questioning if you should give this a try, I recommend just preparing the eggs with the rice. That alone is already delicious!

Looking for someone to come to your house and prepare these dishes for you? It is possible! If you are in Los Angeles and looking for a private chef, please feel free to contact me. For more information, visit Private Kitchen Los Angeles.