{"id":29736,"title":"Unagi Sauce – Japanese Grilling Sauce","modified":"2025-02-12T10:37:14+01:00","plain":"A delicious Unagi sauce recipe for all your Japanese glazes and dips\n\n\n\nUnagi no tare, Kabayaki sauce, Nistume sauce... In Japan, Unagi sauce goes by several different names, but one must have caught your attention: \u201ceel sauce\u201d. \n\n\n\nAs they say, don't judge a book by its cover. You'll be surprised to learn that this delicious sauce only combines 4 very accessible ingredients and no eel in sight (at least not anymore...)!\n\n\n\nWhat is Unagi Sauce?\n\n\n\nJapanese cuisine has a wide range of sauces, and this one has its own charm despite its somewhat intriguing name. With mirin and soy sauce as the main ingredients, Unagi sauce is quite similar to Teriyaki sauce.  \n\n\n\nMy Delicious Teriyaki Chicken Recipe\n\n\n\nIndeed, the ingredients that compose it are part of the basic starter pack common to many Japanese sauces, but Unagi sauce stands out for its honey-like consistency and its characteristic caramelized taste. \n\n\n\nNot at all fishy in taste. However, it works perfectly well with sushi or onigiri! \n\n\n\nBut then, why do we call it \u201ceel sauce\u201d if it doesn't contain any? It's rather curious when you know that the term \u201cUnagi\u201d literally translates to \u201ceel\u201d.  \n\n\n\nIn Japan, it's a fish that's consumed quite regularly. And Unagi sauce is perfect (and very much appreciated) on grilled eel dishes, like Unagi Don (grilled eel on white rice, in the Donburi category).  \n\n\n\nIt's worth noting that originally, this sauce contained eel broth, which is no longer the case today. That explains quite a lot already!  \n\n\n\nIf you're already a bit familiar with Unagi sauce, you'll notice that it's often associated with the terms \u201cNitsume\u201d or \u201cKabayaki\u201d. It's not always easy to keep track of all these names.  \n\n\n\nKabayaki is first and foremost a dish of grilled eel skewers, but it's also a term that refers to all grilled fish dishes similar to eel, meaning long and without scales. \n\n\n\nIt's a dish called \u201cTeriyaki\u201d (yes, like the chicken), the type of cooking where skewers, eel in this case, are grilled then dipped in the thick sauce during cooking. The end result is what's called \u201cUnagi no Kabayaki\u201d, which literally means \u201cflame-grilled and glazed eel\u201d.  \n\n\n\nAs for Nitsume, it can be confusing. It's a type of condiment mainly used for sushi, and Unagi sauce is part of it. Originally, Nitsume also contained eel broth.   \n\n\n\nAgain, this is no longer the case. So don't be surprised if you come across the terms \u201cNitsume\u201d or \u201cKabayaki\u201d; when it comes to sauces, you can't go too wrong. Want to be sure? Follow this recipe that won't take you any longer than understanding the difference between all these names!   \n\n\n\nThe Main Ingredients of Unagi Sauce \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nMirin: a sweet rice wine that pairs particularly well with eel. Mirin adds some sweetness and a hint of acidity, contrasting with the saltiness of soy sauce. It also gives Unagi sauce that slight caramel taste in combination with sugar, which also helps thicken the sauce.  \n\n\n\nLight soy sauce: it brings a salty taste that balances the flavors of the sauce. Soy enhances and intensifies the taste of eel without masking other flavors with just the right amount of salt.  \n\n\n\nDashi: in some recipes, sake is added instead. Personally, I prefer to use powdered dashi, it adds depth with its umami flavor.  \n\n\n\nUsually, I would tend to tell you that dashi should be avoided with fish, hence using it sparingly here. Nevertheless, eel is a rather delicate and refined fish. Therefore, dashi is absolutely not contraindicated in this recipe; it's even a winning combination!  \n\n\n\n\n\n\tUnagi Sauce - Japanese Grilling Sauce\n\t\t\n\t\tA delicious Unagi sauce recipe for all your Japanese glazes and dips\t\n\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\n\t\t100 ml of mirin100 ml light soy sauce (or Japanese salty soy sauce such as Kikkoman)50 g of sugar5 g of powdered dashi\t\n\t\n\t\tIn a small saucepan, mix the ingredients wellHeat over medium-low heat and let reduce while stirring until thickened\t\n\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\n\t\tSauceJapaneseSauce soja light","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/marcwiner.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29736","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/marcwiner.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/marcwiner.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/marcwiner.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/marcwiner.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=29736"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/marcwiner.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29736\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/marcwiner.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/26089"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/marcwiner.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=29736"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/marcwiner.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=29736"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/marcwiner.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=29736"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}