I am so excited today.
Martina has finally agreed to let me shoot a video on unagi.
Today, we're going to take you to one of my favorite eel places called Marushizu.
And we're gonna show you what eel is all about.
Come on! LET'S DO THIS!
[Chill Music]
Now, working with eel is not easy.
First of all, it has tons of tiny, tiny, tiny little bones.
And it's very, very delicate.
The way that they grill this is Kabayaki style.
What it means is--
They actually butterfly it.
They remove all the bones from it.
Then they skewer it.
Skewering here is the key.
And then they grill it without any sauce.
And then they steam it.
And then they burn it back again(?).
And then they add the sauce on top of that
Which kind of, like, caramelizes the sauce on top of it
With the grill
And if you wanna nerd out with me--
Ahahaha
Yaki means grilling.
But kaba, they think, means those cattails
From the ponds
Like, you know when there's a pond and there's
A cattail
And it looks like a skewed eel.
So you're grilling it like that. Get it?
There's some word knowledge for you.
Right at your face.
[Calm Music]
Mmmm. It's so soft.
And fluffy and the edges are perfectly crispy.
It has a little bit of a crunch.
But it's not overcooked in any way.
The sauce on top of it is, like, soy sauce
And mirin and sugar
And it just, like, crisps so nicely
And then the sauce goes on the rice
And then it seeps down into it, but, like, not all the way
Down to make it soggy.
Oh man, it's so good.
Aww yeah~
Mmmmm
MMMmmm
There's... the soft, tenderness on the inside.
With a nice little sticky char of sauce on top.
It's a very meaty-tasting fish.
It doesn't have a fishy taste to it.
If you think about chicken, that's the closest equivalent
That I can come up with--
And I know a lot of people don't wanna try eel
Like even the thought of it is like
"Eww~ It looks like a snake."
It's not.
It's delicious.
It's a super treat here in Japan.
You have to try this out.
[Music]
I feel like the best way to describe eel
In my heart is that it's like a chicken and a fish
Got together.
When someone says 'chicken of the sea,'
I don't think tuna. I think eel.
It's kinda like when you take a marshmallow
And you dip a marshmallow in chocolate
And it's, like, fluffy, but there's chocolate
On the outside, but the inside-- you still taste the marshmallow.
It's like a marshmallow fish.
So I've sprinkled on a sansho
It makes the edges of your tongue a little bit numb.
It's perfect for eel like this.
You know what makes me very happy?
Martina didn't really wanna shoot this video.
She's not passionate about eel.
She hasn't had REALLY good eel like this place here.
And now she has seen the light.
'Cause this is good stuff.
Just look at how beautiful this is.
This is a sexy-looking piece of fish.
You can't help but just look in, like, awe.
Awwe
So, summer time is actually the season for eel.
Most of the year, like around July to August--
We're having it right at the end of June
But if you come to Japan
Make sure that you try this in the summertime
It's wonderful, and not a lot of people talk about
How great eel is.
It's f*%#ing great.
I mean-- I love eel
[Music: 'Hallelujah']
Speaking of word knowledge that Martina had
Um
In Kafka On the Shore-- I'm not sure how many of
You have read it---
That one old character that's kind of crazy
His favorite treat is eel, and I feel the same way.
Are you the crazy character on the shore?
No, it means that I talk to cats
Umm
And then I gotta flip a stone.
Um
I'm not gonna spoil the rest of the book for you
But I talk to cats
Mmm
Mmmm
Mmm
So, the style of eel eating now is kinda the most
Common one where you have rice with sauce
And the eel on top of it.
But when we were in Nagoya, we had it served
Totally differently
They actually do a completely different process.
They serve it four different ways.
Have it as a soup. They have it with, like, wasabi.
They have it on rice.
So, just because you've had eel once in Japan
Does not mean you've had eel all the different types of ways
And I can say that that Nagoya eel was the
First time I ever said, "Wow, eel is great."
Eel is great.
And then Simon said, "Well, I'm gonna take you
To my favorite spot in Tokyo."
Because he came here, without me, with his friend.
So, even though eel season is in the summertime
That doesn't mean that it necessarily comes cheap.
There's a lot of overfishing.
And from what I've heard-- not gonna name any names
But some other countries that aren't Japan
Have been infringing on Japan's waters
And taking some of their eel
I don't know. I heard that in a food rumor mill
It could be wrong. Not sure.
Two pieces here cost 3,600 yen.
My three piece-set cost 4,300 yen.
So, it is a lot of money to spend on lunch.
It was supposedly a lot cheaper a long time ago.
But it's really, really, really, like, ridiculously delicious.
Really, really good-looking.
[Sexy Music]
So, that's it for this week's
Food Adventure Program for Awesome People(FAPFAP)
I hope we've convinced you to try eel.
It looks scary. You might think it's a snake.
It's not a snake!
Make sure you come on out and try it
When you get the chance
And we're gonna let you guys know how to
Find this place in our blog post
But it is a bit complicated
Or should we keep it secret, Ducky?
Hmmmmmmmm
Nah, we'll share it with you guys
It's new Sekuge market.
Or "Sukeegee" as everyone wants me to say it.
Sukeegee