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Eel

heidih

By heidih
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heidih

heidih

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This New Yorker article has me thinking about eel. https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2020/05/25/where-do-eels-come-from There are a couple topics and post here like this one https://forums.egullet.org/topic/95060-pictorial-steamed-eel/?tab=comments#comment-1301642 My only personal experience is with the sushi version unagi which enjoy. I've read about treatments in other countries. The babes (elvers) are apparently a big deal in Maine. https://www.cnbc.com/2017/08/07/as-eels-grow-in-value-us-government-clamps-down-on-poaching.html  Anyone have eel experience to share?

 

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Katie Meadow

Katie Meadow

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11 minutes ago, heidih said:

This New Yorker article has me thinking about eel. https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2020/05/25/where-do-eels-come-from There are a couple topics and post here like this one https://forums.egullet.org/topic/95060-pictorial-steamed-eel/?tab=comments#comment-1301642 My only personal experience is with the sushi version unagi which enjoy. I've read about treatments in other countries. The babes (elvers) are apparently a big deal in Maine. https://www.cnbc.com/2017/08/07/as-eels-grow-in-value-us-government-clamps-down-on-poaching.html  Anyone have eel experience to share?

 

I like eel, in Japanese restaurants and fresh caught sautéed in butter. I read that New Yorker article when it came out, and decided that I didn't want to read the book. That article was just enough to get the....flavor.

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MokaPot

MokaPot

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Yes, I've tried both unagi (freshwater) and anago (salt water) eel. More experience with unagi. Personally, eel is not my favorite thing to eat at the sushi bar. The texture reminds me of catfish. (I have limited experience eating catfish, though.)

 

A friend of mine really likes unagi, I suspect it's due to the sauce. (IME, unagi is served with a light teriyaki sauce.)

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Allura

Allura

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Eel used to be tradition at our big Italian Christmas Eve dinner (it's gotten smaller). Sliced into chunks and fried. Umm...tastes like chicken? I'd eat it for tradition, but that's about it. 

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heidih

heidih

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Interesting on catfish reference. Which is often taste driven by their habitat. I  remember reading about eels in a green sauce years ago - it did not appeal but tastes change. Like this I guess. https://www.junedarville.com/eels-in-green-sauce.html  Maybe less popular now as availability has declined on the eels. I just like hearing the experiences and maybe current uses. A bit like years ago we would see Japanese families prying mussels off the tide pool rocks and wondered. Now we are cutivating them on the off shore oil rigs. 

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liuzhou

liuzhou

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My local supermarket sells live rice paddy eels. I've eaten them in a Sichuan-style preparation and loved it, but never cooked them.

 

I've also had the famous London 'jellied eels'. Those are OK, but I wouldn't weep if I never came across them again.

Edited by liuzhou (log)
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KennethT

KennethT

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2 minutes ago, liuzhou said:

My local supermarket sells live rice paddy eels. I've eaten them in a Sichuan-style preparation and loved it, but never cooked them.

I'm curious as to the rice paddy eels (and other rice paddy aquatic animals).  Are they farmed or wild?  By this I mean, are the paddies stocked with baby eels or do they get there naturally?  If naturally, how do they get there?  Where do they go when the paddy is drained?

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MokaPot

MokaPot

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53 minutes ago, heidih said:

Interesting on catfish reference. Which is often taste driven by their habitat....

 

Actually, it was the texture (of the unagi) more than the flavor that reminded me of catfish.

 

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liuzhou

liuzhou

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16 minutes ago, KennethT said:

I'm curious as to the rice paddy eels (and other rice paddy aquatic animals).  Are they farmed or wild?  By this I mean, are the paddies stocked with baby eels or do they get there naturally?  If naturally, how do they get there?  Where do they go when the paddy is drained?

 

I don't know much about it. I guess they are semi-farmed in that the paddies are stocked but thereafter left to their own devices. When the paddies are drained any remaining livestock goes wherever the water goes ?????

I'll try to get more info next time I'm out and about.

Edited by liuzhou (log)
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...your dancing child with his Chinese suit.

 

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Anna N

Anna N

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My late husband was a huge fan of smoked eel. Always made an appearance when we had a Danish lunch and we bought it at Christmas. I found it just too rich. My stomach rebelled. 

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Anna Nielsen aka "Anna N"

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chromedome

chromedome

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Just now, Anna N said:

My late husband was a huge fan of smoked eel. Always made an appearance when we had a Danish lunch and we bought it at Christmas. I found it just too rich. My stomach rebelled. 

Oddly, it was my go-to hangover breakfast at a point in my life (late teens/early 20s) when that mattered. There was a little fishmonger near where I lived in Regina's cathedral district, and a chunk of smoked eel and some rollmops somehow made my morning more bearable.

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heidih

heidih

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1 minute ago, Anna N said:

My late husband was a huge fan of smoked eel. Always made an appearance when we had a Danish lunch and we bought it at Christmas. I found it just too rich. My stomach rebelled. 

My like was not for your tummy rebel but your guy and the smokies So they were fatty.

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liuzhou

liuzhou

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20 minutes ago, liuzhou said:

My local supermarket sells live rice paddy eels.

 

I should point out that these are not what Wikipedia describes as Rice-paddy eels. They are much smaller - only a few inches long. I really need to delve deeper.

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...your dancing child with his Chinese suit.

 

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heidih

heidih

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Just now, chromedome said:

Oddly, it was my go-to hangover breakfast at a point in my life (late teens/early 20s) when that mattered. There was a little fishmonger near where I lived in Regina's cathedral district, and a chunk of smoked eel and some rollmops somehow made my morning more bearable.

As with such remedies often fattiness to coat the tummy. Interesting - thanks  Similar factor in our bacon wrapped hot dogs outside of clubs at 2 a.m.

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heidih

heidih

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24 minutes ago, liuzhou said:

I've also had the famous London 'jellied eels'. Those are OK, but I wouldn't weep if I never came across them again.

I;d read this pub food reference before. Did not call to me either  https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2013/nov/09/jellied-eels-cockney-tesco-food

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AAQuesada

AAQuesada

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@heidih You are in the LA area.. Have you ever been to Father's Office? I know they are famous for their burger but but one of their original menu items and my favorite is their smoked eel salad with a poached egg & shaved fennel salad. Fantastic. Hopefully they reopen soon

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liuzhou

liuzhou

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In addition to selling the live eels I mentioned, they also sell them skinned, deboned and cleaned.

 

eels.thumb.jpg.7f376ed58de8a99709a9248905c23b80.jpg

 

Also, sometimes they offer these cooked paddy eels. They are fried and dressed with chilli and sesame seeds. Crisp and spicy beer food!

 

1123033208_SpicyEelShreds.thumb.jpg.f08efa99dab3781dd486e214c2c35a97.jpg

 

Edited by liuzhou (log)
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...your dancing child with his Chinese suit.

 

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heidih

heidih

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31 minutes ago, AAQuesada said:

@heidih You are in the LA area.. Have you ever been to Father's Office? I know they are famous for their burger but but one of their original menu items and my favorite is their smoked eel salad with a poached egg & shaved fennel salad. Fantastic. Hopefully they reopen soon

I know the place but not the dish - on the  list - thanks!

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liamsaunt

liamsaunt

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I dislike the texture of eel.

 

My grandfather used to like to go fishing for eel and bring it home for dinner.  My mother hated eel, so she would subtly slip her portion into the pocket of her nursing uniform (when she knew eel was going to be on the menu, she pre-lined the pocket with a bag), and dump it in a city trash can on her way to the train she took to nursing school.

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Katie Meadow

Katie Meadow

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The only time I had eel that wasn't served on sushi rice was in Dillon Beach, where my husband's family has a house. It's a small seaside town south of Bodega Bay. There's an eeler who lives there and gave my MIL a whole skinned cleaned eel. That would be a salt water coastal eel. It was delicious, delicate white meat sautéed simply in butter in a skillet. I imagine fresh water eels are very different when cooked simply like that. 

 

American Unagi eels, I assume, are raised in fresh water tanks, since unagi is typically a fresh water fish, no?

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cdh

cdh

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Eels seem to make some people wax rhapsodic... I remember being really annoyed by the wistful musings PBS tried to pass off as a Nature documentary a while back... https://www.pbs.org/wnet/nature/the-mystery-of-eels-introduction/8239/

Christopher D. Holst aka "cdh"

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