The Eel Cafe

The best thing to eat in the summer heat to maintain your strength is freshwater eel - unagi. You see, eel has proteins and a fat content that is just right for offsetting the heat according to my Japanese friends. Last week my friend Hatta-san, who was visiting from Paris, and I went to eat eel in Shinbashi. I have eaten eel plenty of times, but Hatta-san promised we'd have something different.

The menu was all eel. We started with cold eel that tasted kind of like kippered eel to me. Then there was eel gizzards of some kind on a little skewer cooked over a grill. I have had these before and while edible, are not not my favorite. Next we had something new - eel spines deep fried.

I read a Japanese ghost story of sorts one time about the spines. Eels can live a long time out of water and are sometimes still alive when cleaned. The story is that the spines still wiggle when they are thrown into a bucket after the eel is filleted. For some reason this story popped in my head while eating. Anyway, the spines taste like crunchy somethings and compliment beer well. I think they would be good with tobasco sauce.

This brings to mind the duck hunting grounds that the shogun used to have at Hamarikyu Garden which isn't too far from me. There is a memorial to soothe the souls of the wild ducks that were caught there. You can see the garden in the panaramic view of Tokyo Bay behind Yebisu. Interesting, ne? Back to eels.

After that there was boiled eel grilled with brown sauce and regular old grilled eel. This is pretty standard fare but I thought it was particularly good at this shop. The lady who owns the shop also owns a sushi shop next door where they serve fugu in the winter. I will probably go back on my own which could be a little dicey considering the menu and that she doesn't speak any English.

The other food item I learned about this week was shiroitama with zenzai - a desert. The interesting thing about this for me was that I figured out what it was from the Japanese description. A white ball made from pounded rice (mochi) with soy bean paste. Delicious. And I knew what I was getting without a word of English. My Japanese is getting better but it is still bad.

Reading my blog is probably enough to turn you into a vegetarian. But not me - it's going to stay hot a few more weeks - I'd better try and find a good supply of eel till things cool down...