Unagi Sauce (Kabayaki No Tare)

[JMillar]

Does anyone have any recipes, I'd be interested in hearing all thoughts

[Batard]

Does anyone have any recipes, I'd be interested in hearing all thoughts

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I found this one posted here on eGullet:

First, I made kabayaki no tare sauce with very simple ingredients this morning:

one part (75-ml) soy sauce, one part mirin, and one part sake (Japanese rice wine).

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This recipe is from my own notes. I’m not sure where I got it exactly.

1 cup dashi (or water left over from cooking eel)

1/2 cup mirin

1/2 cup shoyu (Japanese soy)

1/4 cup sugar

Put all ingredients into a saucepan and heat to boiling over medium heat. Simmer three or four hours to thicken to reduce it to less than half the starting volume – you should end up with about a cup.

At this point it is called Tsumé, and you can use it for just like you would eel sauce. If you thin it with a bit of sake, it’s then called kabayaki no tare.

I am by no means an expert on this, I'm sure there are many variations. Hopefully someone more knowledgeable will check in here and comment.

[Hiroyuki]

I found two recipes that seem good.

One is from an old-established unagi (eel) shop in Mikawa, Aichi prefecture.

1.8 liters soy sauce

1.8 liters mirin

2 kg rock sugar

Simmer soy sauce on very low heat for 2 hours, while skimming foam.

In another pot, boil mirin to evaporate alcohol.

Combine them, add rock sugar, let stand to cool.

from here (Japanese only)

Recipe 2

Ingredients:

350 cc dark soy sauce

300 cc mirin

250 g sugar

100 cc sake

Eel head and bone, if available

1. Combine mirin and sake and boil on high heat to evaporate alcohol.

(Grill head and bone well and add them in this step).

2. Add sugar.

3. Add dark soy sauce and bring to a boil again.

4. Simmer on very low heat for 15 to 20 min.

5. Skim foam, filter, and cool as quickly as possible.

from here

Good luck!

[JMillar]

Many thanks

I also found one that quotes use of the bone and head so am guessing that that is the authentic way

Will let you know how I get on

Many thanks

[helenjp]

Hiroyuki's Recipe 2 is the same approach that is used for yakitori tare...it makes a noticeable difference for yakitori, so if you have the ingredients, I imagine it's worth doing the extra work for eel too.

[Hiroyuki]

Hiroyuki's Recipe 2 is the same approach that is used for yakitori tare...it makes a noticeable difference for yakitori, so if you have the ingredients, I imagine it's worth doing the extra work for eel too.

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And, at unagi and yakitori shops, they never throw their tare, they just replenish, for tens of years!