Last but not least of our Japanese treats was my most dreaded specimen from the sea: the eel. Even more so than seaweed, I cringed at the idea of eating something so slimy and so like a worm. Not only did the idea sound strange, the fish itself looks awful: wet, dark brown and gray, and layered with puckers like suction cups. I could only think of putting my fork, or chopsticks into a bowl of worms, or tentacles rather.
Chinese, Japanese, Korean, and European cultures have all eaten eel throughout history. Eel is used in many different recipes and forms in Asia, especially the freshwater eel, the unagi. Japanese and Koreans believe the consumption of eel give the body stamina, and thus eat the fish most during the hottest months of the summer. European dishes with the creature have usually been jellied or put in pies: British royalty have historically had an obsession with eel and lamprey, another related species, pies. The eel, however, has risen in price over the years and become more of a luxury or delicacy as changing environmental conditions and overfishing have lowered their numbers in previously popular areas. Greenpeace International has actually added the fish to its Seafood Red List of endangered seafood catch due to overfishing as of 2010.
Nevertheless, it turned out eel does not taste so bad. We had our eel in a sushi roll now popular in the States, the Caterpillar Roll: asparagus and eel on the inside, avocado on the outside. As you would expect, the eel is incredibly slimy chewing and going down. It’s not very difficult to chew, but has a gooey quality that is offsetting at first. Eel tastes like a very well prepared white fish: salty but also savory, and satisfying in the briny way seafood is. Surrounded by rice, seaweed, and vegetables and dipped in soy sauce, the roll tempered the gooiness of the fish and let you enjoy it for its better flavors.
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