According to the discipline of the Heavenly Dry Earth Branch, today is the day of decay and ugliness. Since it is an ugly day, you should eat lotus, but the Japanese prefer to eat eels! Also said it was tradition!
Figure: www.likejapan.com
According to Japanese tradition, you have to eat eel rice every summer on the day of "Soil Use Ugly Day", so what day is "Soil Use Ugly Day"? Originally, the "soil use" in summer refers to the 18 days before the autumn, and if this period coincides with the "ugly day", it is called "soil use の ugly の日". This year's Earthuual Ugly Day is held twice, namely July 25 (Fire Dawn) and August 6 (日曜).
Tempting eel rice Photo: 123rf.com Genuine photo gallery
▐ Japanese eels that belong to the summer season
When it comes to roasted eels, the first choice is of course the Japanese eel (Anguilla japonica), also known as the white eel. The birthplace of the Japanese eel is in the middle of the vast Pacific Ocean, it is a migratory fish, spawning in the deep sea, and then migrating to the river to grow and develop, sexual maturity and then return to the place of birth to breed, because of the long life in fresh water, so in a sense it can be regarded as "river eel".
Japanese Eel Image: pref.aomori.lg.jp
Usually fish, shrimp and shellfish are in the most fat hoarding season taste the best, eel real fat season is in the winter, in order to resist the cold and prepare for the breeding season, eel skin accumulated thick fat, the taste should be more mellow and fat, summer is the eel is the thinnest and most chai season, why is it popular to eat eel in summer?
Figure: 123rf.com Genuine image gallery
That's because the fat of eels is more special, unlike most marine fish fresh and sweet, tame fat, fresh water eel fat is very fishy, the taste is very fatty, too much fat will make the grilled eel lose points, so the removal of grease during grilling has become a particularly important step. If the eel itself is not high in fat, it is much more worry-free to handle, and the quality of grilled eel is also guaranteed. Therefore, in the past, it made sense that eel shops regarded summer as the best time to taste eel dishes.
Pu roasted eel Photo: 123rf.com Genuine photo gallery
▐ Hold the famous sushi world: star eel
Another eel often eaten by the Japanese is the star eel (Astroconger myriaster), also known as the Kangji eel, the cave fish, the fish as its name, it likes to burrow in the mud and sand of the seabed, is a kind of "moray eel". Because the flank spots in Taiwan have a romantic name called the star glutinous eel.
Star Eel Picture: wikiwand.com
Star Eel Tempura Photo: 123rf.com Genuine Photo Gallery
In terms of taste, river eels are fatter and star eels are more fragrant. Although the star eel is not outstanding in the kabuya eel world, it is famous in the sushi world, and the star eel caught in Tokyo Bay is called "Edo-mae cave fish" and is considered to be the best quality among the star eels. It's one of the hardest sushi ingredients to handle, but sushi workers love it. The golden skin is wrapped in pure white fish meat, wrapped around the rice and put into the mouth, slowly melting in the mouth.
Star Eel a book holder Photo: pref.aomori.lg.jp
Star eel rice Photo: hokkaido-jin.jp
▐ Tiger eel that tests knife workers
Summer also belongs to another type of eel, which is the tiger eel (M. cinereus), known in Japanese as "hawk" (HAMO), which is also commonly known as "moray eel". Moray eels are widely distributed, with sharp teeth and fierce temperament, and like to hide in the crevices of the reef and caves on the seabed to ambush prey.
Tiger Eel (Eel) Photo: 123rf.com Genuine photo gallery
Moray eels have fair flesh but contain many small "Y" spines that are difficult to remove, so the chef usually uses a thick bone breaker knife to cut these small spines intensively along with the fish meat. This is an extremely testing knife technique. After the finely cut fish is slightly blanched with hot water, it will condense into a "white peony" flower-like shape, which is the so-called "peony fish", made into a suction or slightly grilled, accompanied by plum sauce or vinegar, fresh and elegant, as if visiting the ancient capital in summer.
Moray eel tempura picture 123rf.com genuine picture
Just like "Kanto squid, Kansai river fish", folk usually have the saying "Kanto eel Kansai eel", roughly because there are many lakes in the Kanto region, rich in river eels; Kansai is inland, and only fish such as moray eels can be transported over long distances to the moment of the table.
Peony fish with plum meat sauce Picture: sakuravillage.jp
▐ Grilled eel with unique ingenuity
When grilling eel, Kanto and Kansai also present two different genres: the Kansai school usually uses the fish to be cut open from the abdomen, and the iron skewer is directly grilled with charcoal; the kanto school is more exquisite, generally cutting from the back of the fish, first grilling and then steaming and then grilling, which can remove more of the grease and fishy smell of the eel.
Chefs often start preparing before dawn, skewering the slaughtered eel on iron skewers and grilling them for the first time without any seasoning, in order to remove excess fat from the skin. The grilled eel is then put into the steamer and steamed, using the power of steam to remove some fat again, while steaming and hydrating can make the eel meat soft. The steamed eels are neatly stacked for later.
Grilled eel Photo: 123rf.com Genuine photo gallery
The formal grilling is to continue to grill the eel that has been steamed again, and the barbecue method without brushing the sauce is also called "white stew", which is intended to show the original flavor of the eel, can intuitively evaluate the cooking skills of the staff, and is also a manifestation of great confidence in the ingredients.
The white-roasted method can taste its original taste Picture: matome.naver.jp
The roasted eel needs to use the sauce, and the grilled eel is brushed with a special sauce to turn over and grill, which needs to be repeated at least four or five times, which not only ensures that the sauce is flavorful but also retains the texture of the crispy outer and inner sponge of the fish. The roasting heat is extremely important, and if it is not baked enough, it will retain a dirty smell, and if it is too much, it will lose its sticky and soft taste.
Kashiaki eel sushi Photo: 123rf.com Genuine photo gallery
The puyaki sauce is mainly made by boiling soy sauce, miso, sweet sake, kelp, eel bone, etc. The sauce ratio is ever-changing, not only can cover up the fishy smell of eels, but also very delicious rice, good sauce is the treasure of the eel shop. Some old restaurants will retain the "old juice", that is, how much must be replenished every day, and there is always a rich sauce that is older than the owner, which can be described as the soul of an eel shop.
Tempting eel rice Photo: sdouraku.co.jp
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