Unagi sauce is added to which dishes. How to make authentic Japanese unagi sauce at home? Use in cooking

Health 09.01.2024

Health

Unagi - this exotic dressing comes from the land of the rising sun and longevity - Japan. Unagi sauce is served not only with sushi, but also with any dishes with smoked eel. This dressing has a pronounced salty-smoky taste and a slightly sweet aftertaste. She can turn any simple fish dish into an exquisite and tasty delicacy for the holiday table. This Japanese “seasoning” can also be purchased in the store, but, as a rule, a good product will have a rather high price. And, of course, every housewife would not mind learning how to cook it herself. Today we will make your dream come true and reveal the secret of how to make unagi sauce at home.

Classic unagi sauce recipe

It’s worth starting with the classic recipe used by Japanese chefs. They generally do not use dressings that are sold in stores, but prefer to prepare them themselves.

The classic unagi sauce recipe consists of the following ingredients:

Dry white wine – 300 ml.
Mirin – 300 ml.
Soy sauce – 300 ml.
Hondashi seasoning - one third of a teaspoon
Sugar, or better yet use powdered sugar – 3 tablespoons.

Of course, not everyone understands the classic composition of unagi sauce. Therefore, before showing you step-by-step cooking instructions with photos, let’s look at the main components of the recipe.

What is mirin? This is a low alcohol cook's rice wine. Mirin is a type of sake, but sake has a slightly higher alcohol level. This rice wine is used to add a sweet taste to dishes. Another feature of using mirin is that rice wine can kill the smell of fish, which many people do not like.
And something else that may be unfamiliar to you is the “Hondashi” seasoning. This is a powdered seasoning that is a base for soups, rice, noodles and dressings. To avoid preparing fish broth, cooks use Hondashi granules. You can buy these products in supermarkets in the Japanese cuisine section, although they are quite difficult to find.
But many people probably know about soy sauce, and it’s available in almost every store. You can follow the original recipe.

Well, now let's start the cooking process:

Pour dry white wine into the pan. By the way, semi-dry white will also do.
Add soy dressing to the wine.
Then pour in mirin and Hondashi fish stock. Mix everything thoroughly until the Hondashi seasoning granules dissolve.
Place the pan over high heat and bring to a boil. As soon as the mixture boils, reduce the heat to low and continue to simmer for about 2 hours. During this time, the mass will decrease in volume and thicken.
But don't go too far. As soon as a caramel-colored foam appears on the surface, the pan can be removed from the heat.
Add sugar or powdered sugar to the still hot mixture and mix everything until the sugar is completely dissolved. When using powdered sugar, you won't have to wait long for dissolution.
The resulting mass must be cooled.
Pour the dressing into a special sauce boat, and you can serve. Bon appetit!

Tip: Store the Japanese dressing for rolls, sushi and fish - unagi sauce - in the refrigerator in a tightly closed container.

Adapted unagi sauce recipe

It happens that it is almost impossible to find special products for making Japanese sauce, for example, you live in a small town or even far from the city, somewhere in the village. This is not a reason to refuse to make unagi sauce at home, you can simply replace some components, and we will tell you how to make unagi sauce by replacing the main components.

The adapted recipe consists of the following products:

Soy sauce – 60 ml.
Olive oil – 75 ml.
Honey – 15 gr.
Starch – 4 gr.
Fresh ginger – 7 gr.

The preparation scheme is as follows:

Mix soy sauce with olive oil in a saucepan.
Next add honey.
Grate the ginger root on a fine grater and squeeze out all the juice. Add ginger juice to the main mass.
Place the pan over low heat. Add starch, stirring occasionally. Continue stirring to avoid lumps forming.
We continue to cook until desolate, but under no circumstances allow the mass to boil and seethe.
Remove the thickened mass from the heat and let cool.
Pour the cooled dressing into a gravy boat and you can serve. Bon appetit!

Unagi sauce prepared by yourself will differ, first of all, in quality, because you will be confident in its composition than if you buy it in a store with the addition of a whole bunch of E-additives. The taste of homemade unagi, if you prepare it exactly according to the proposed recipe, will be the same as that of professional Japanese chefs, so it’s worth making this famous Japanese dressing at least once to surprise your family and friends.

Video: Original recipe for unagi sauce

Japanese cuisine is distinguished by its variety and flavor. And the sauces deserve special attention, one of which is unagi. Be sure to try it, or even better, cook it at home.

What kind of sauce is this?

Unagi sauce is one of the classic Japanese sauces. The name literally translates as “eel,” and unagi is traditionally used as an accompaniment to such a delicious fish. The composition includes classic natural soy sauce, water, sugar, mirin rice wine, and sometimes starch, fish broth and some other ingredients.

How to cook?

How to make your own unagi sauce? We offer several different cooking methods.

Method one

This is a classic cooking option that will require certain components, which can be difficult to obtain.

So here's what you'll need:

a glass of natural soy sauce;
a glass of dry white wine;
a glass of mirin (this is a strong Japanese rice wine);
three tbsp. l. sugar or powder;
five tablespoons of concentrated and rich fish broth (or a third of a teaspoon of specialized seasoning “Hondashi”).

Preparation:

Pour dry white wine into a saucepan or any other container. Pour in soy sauce, as well as mirin and broth (or add seasoning granules).
Place the container on the fire and bring its contents to a boil. Next, reduce the heat to low and simmer the mixture for about two hours until it thickens and becomes covered with caramel foam.
Remove the pan from the heat, add sugar or powder into the mixture that has not yet cooled, and then completely dissolve it by actively stirring the liquid.
The sauce is ready.

Method two

You can prepare unagi at home using more affordable and familiar products.

This is the list of ingredients:

70-75 ml olive oil (if you don’t have it, replace it with regular sunflower oil);
60-70 ml classic soy sauce;
three tbsp. l. honey (preferably not candied, but liquid);
half a teaspoon of starch (corn starch is better, but potato starch can also be used);
a small piece of fresh ginger (about a teaspoon).

Instructions:

In a saucepan or saucepan, combine olive oil and soy sauce. Add honey to this mixture.
Grate a piece of fresh ginger using a grater (preferably fine), squeeze out all the juice from this mass through cheesecloth and pour it into the pan.
Place the container on the fire. When the mixture warms up a little, add starch into it, but slowly and very carefully, constantly stirring the composition to avoid the formation of lumps.
Cook the liquid until thickened, continuing to stir. But under no circumstances should it boil, so do not allow even small bubbles to form. To do this, reduce the heat to low and actively stir the mixture. And when it thickens a little, remove it from the stove and let it cool.

Method three

This is not quite unagi, but this sauce is also very tasty and unusual. To prepare you will need:

half a glass of Japanese sweet rice wine mirin;
half a glass of soy sauce;
a quarter glass of sugar (sand or powder).

Process description:

Pour mirin into a saucepan, put it on the fire, bring the sweet wine to a boil.
After the first bubbles form, add sugar to the mirin and continue boiling the mixture until the grains are completely dissolved.
Then add soy sauce to the mixture and bring the whole mixture to a boil a second time.
Next, the heat should be reduced to almost minimum, but the liquid should continue to simmer gently. After half an hour, when the sauce has thickened, remove it from the stove and cool.

Method four

This recipe involves using eel as one of the ingredients.

Here's what you'll need:

a third of a glass of soy sauce;
a third of a glass of mirin;
five tbsp. l. Sahara;
30-50 g of fresh eel.

Instructions:

Prepare a saucepan or saucepan and immediately place all the ingredients used for cooking into this container. The eel must first be cut into small pieces.
Place the pan on the fire, bring the mixture to a boil, and then simmer it to evaporate some of the liquid and achieve a fairly thick consistency.
Then you need to either grind the composition using a blender, or strain it through a cloth to extract the eel, which has already given up almost all its taste.

Method five

This Japanese unagi sauce will include smoked eel, so the flavor will be more pronounced and piquant.

List of required ingredients:

a glass of mirin;
half a glass of soy sauce;
70-100 ml of water;
2/3 cup sugar;
two tbsp. l. starch;
a small piece of smoked eel.

Preparation:

In a saucepan or saucepan, combine all the liquid ingredients, i.e. water, mirin and soy sauce. But a small amount of water should remain; it will be needed to prepare the starch.
Place the container on the fire, and in the meantime, cut the eel into small cubes, then add it along with the sugar into the mixture heated in the pan.
Boil the mixture over low heat and stir frequently until it thickens.
After ten minutes, dissolve the starch in water, break up all the lumps (it’s convenient to use a mixer for this).
Add the starch component to the sauce, cook it for about five more minutes, continuing to stir.
Cool the sauce. If there are any lumps left, break them up using a mixer.

How to use unagi sauce?

What to serve with unagi sauce? In traditional Japanese cuisine, it complements various eel dishes. But it also goes well with almost any fish, and if desired, it can complement the taste of rice. Don't be afraid to experiment and look for unusual combinations.

The popular Japanese unagi sauce is used in the preparation of various original dishes. Unfortunately, you can’t buy it everywhere. We'll tell you how to make unagi sauce yourself. This is much better, because you will know for sure that it is natural and made using technology. In addition, the shelf life of the product under the right conditions is up to 12 months. And the preparation itself is quite simple. So where do we start? First of all, we will prepare the ingredients that will be needed to prepare 300 ml of unagi sauce.

Unagi sauce. Recipe.

1) 200 grams of white wine of any brand, but preferably it should be a dry or semi-dry variety.
2) Granulated sugar.
3) 200 ml of classic soy sauce.
4) 200 ml mirin (rice wine).
5) Deep saucepan.
6) Hondashi (fish seasoning).
7) Spoon, glass.

Stage 1.

Pour the wine into a pre-prepared pan. It is better if it has a thick bottom.

Stage 2.

Pour 0.2 liters of soy sauce into the same bowl.

Stage 3.

The time has come for mirin. Pour that into the pan too.

Stage 4.

Half a spoon of Hondashi seasoning.

Stage 5.

And now we put the pan on the stove at maximum heat. When the liquid boils, reduce the heat. The sauce should be cooked until its volume is reduced by 2 times. This will take 100-120 minutes.

Stage 6.

Carefully monitor both the time and the condition of the sauce. When it is completely covered with a caramel-like foam, it means the sauce is ready! Remove it from the stove.

Stage 7.

Add sugar to the sauce. This will make it thicker. You only need a few tablespoons. Mix thoroughly. Wait until it cools down. Be careful not to put the sauce back on the heat.

If a dish is served in Japan that includes eel, then unagi sauce will certainly be served with it, unless it is used as a dressing. However, this is not the only possible use for this unusual sauce with a salty-smoky taste and a sweetish aftertaste. It harmonizes perfectly with any fish dishes; it can be used to season soups and rice prepared according to Asian recipes. Therefore, it wouldn’t hurt for fans of oriental cuisine to learn how to make unagi sauce at home, especially since this dressing is not easy to get, and it is very expensive.

Cooking features

It takes a long time to prepare unagi sauce using classical technology, but there is nothing complicated in the process of preparing this dressing. The biggest difficulty is getting the right components. Therefore, they are often replaced with alternatives. The taste of the sauce in this case is far from identical to the natural one, but it still performs its functions, being an excellent addition to sushi and other fish and seafood dishes. So you can choose any recipe, the main thing is to follow the rules for preparing Japanese sauce.

Most often in Japan, mirin, a culinary rice wine, is used to make unagi sauce. It is not as strong as sake and has a distinct sweetish taste. If you cannot get this component, you can replace it with regular white table wine, preferably semi-sweet.
The second component, which is not very accessible to our compatriots, but is mentioned in the traditional unagi sauce recipe, is hondashi seasoning. Essentially, it is dry fish broth. So the seasoning can be replaced with highly concentrated fish broth.
The traditional technology for preparing unagi sauce involves long-term boiling of a fairly liquid mixture. You have to stir this mixture constantly and make sure it doesn't burn. For this reason, today many cooks are deviating from traditional technology, using starch to thicken the sauce. You can do this too.
The sauce may contain several types of alcohol, and in considerable quantities. However, after prolonged processing, there is no taste of alcohol left in the sauce, so it is impossible to get drunk from drinking it.

If you want to experiment with making unagi sauce, you can of course do so. Just don’t get carried away with adding hot and very spicy seasonings, as this can spoil the taste of the sauce and make it unsuitable for the dishes with which it is traditionally served.

Classic unagi sauce recipe

dry white wine – 100 ml;
mirin – 100 ml;
soy sauce – 100 ml;
Hondashi seasoning - a pinch;
sugar – 20 g.

Cooking method:

Mix white wine, soy sauce and mirin. Add hondashi to them and stir.
Place the pan with the resulting mixture on the stove.
Bring to a boil over medium heat, reduce heat to low and simmer the sauce for 2 hours.
Grind the sugar in a coffee grinder until it becomes powdered sugar and add it to the sauce.
Wait for the sugar to dissolve and remove the saucepan from the heat.

After this, unagi sauce can be used immediately as a dressing, or it can be cooled, poured into a gravy boat, and served separately with fish dishes. A combination of both options is acceptable.

Adapted recipe for unagi sauce with honey and ginger

soy sauce – 150 ml;
corn starch – 10 g;
honey – 20–30 ml;
ginger root – 15 g;
olive oil – 150 ml.

Cooking method:

Pour oil into a bowl, add honey to it.
Dilute the starch with soy sauce.
Peel and finely grate the ginger.
Place a bowl of oil in a water bath. Warm it up for 10-15 minutes. During this time, the honey should melt and dissolve in the oil.
Pour in soy sauce with starch dissolved in it. Continue heating the sauce for another 5 minutes.
Add ginger, stir. After a couple of minutes, remove from the water bath.

Cool the sauce and pour it over the fish before serving. You can also use it for preparing fish dishes and seasoning rice.

Unagi sauce with smoked eel

soy sauce – 0.2 l;
smoked eel – 50 g;
sugar – 100 g;
water – 160 ml;
corn starch – 15 g;
mirin or white semi-sweet wine – 0.25 l.

Cooking method:

Mix half the water specified in the recipe with wine and soy sauce. Place on the stove and simmer for 10 minutes after boiling.
Dilute the starch with the remaining cool water.
Finely chop the eel.
Pour sugar into the liquid boiling on the stove. Stir until it dissolves.
Add starch, constantly stirring the sauce at this time so that no lumps form.
After cooking for 2-3 minutes, add chopped eel, cook for another minute and remove from heat.

Before serving, the sauce should be allowed to steep. If it cools down during this time, it’s okay - unagi is most often served cold.

Unagi sauce with sake and vegetables

honey – 50 g;
sake – 100 ml;
white table wine – 90 ml;
carrots – 50 g;
onions – 35 g;
garlic – 1 clove;
soy sauce – 100 ml;
water – 90 ml;
corn starch – 15 g.

Cooking method:

Divide the water into two parts. Dissolve starch in one part. Heat the other and mix with honey.
Add soy sauce to the part of the water that is mixed with honey. Place this mixture on the fire and bring to a boil.
Wash the vegetables, peel them, cut them into small pieces and add them to the boiling liquid. Boil them for 20 minutes.
Strain the broth, throw away the vegetables - they will no longer be needed, and it is impossible to eat them, since they are very salty.
Pour wine and sake into the broth. Reheat it.
Pour water with starch into it and cook, stirring, until the sauce has the consistency of jelly.

All that remains is to remove the unagi sauce from the heat and cool. It can be served with any fish dishes.

In Japan, unagi sauce is one of the most popular, but it is also in demand in Europe, as it gives fish dishes a unique taste. You can make this dressing or its analogue at home.