Unagi Sushi (Eel Hand Roll) is a popular sushi roll featuring Japanese eel cooked in a rich umami sauce, then rolled in seasoned sushi rice and nori. This simple hand roll comes together in less than 10 minutes and is perfect for beginners making sushi for the first time.
Given how easy this hand roll is to make, we love to make it for a simple and tasty lunch. This roll pairs perfectly with sides like our Furikake and Lemon Shishito Peppers, Spicy Tuna Onigiri (Japanese Rice Balls), or a Spicy Ahi Bowl.
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About Unagi Sushi
- Taste - The unagi and cucumber are light and sweet while the unagi sauce adds a unique umami bbq flavor.
- Texture - The cucumber and nori are crunchy while the unagi is tender and soft. The eel sauce is thick and almost syrupy.
- Effort - This homemade hand roll is much easier than regular sushi and does not require much skill.
- Time - It takes about a half hour to cook the rice then another 10 minutes to prepare the ingredients and assemble the roll. As you get better at making hand rolls, the time it takes to assemble will decrease.
What is Unagi?
Unagi is Japanese freshwater eel. It is often sold pre marinated and pre cooked through a process called kabayaki. Through kabayaki, the eel is split down the back, gutted, deboned, and cut into rectangular fillets. The eel fillets are then marinated in a sweet sauce and grilled. Finally, the eel is vacuum sealed and frozen before it is sold in stores.
Ingredients
Unagi Sauce
- Mirin - Mirin is a Japanese sweet rice wine that adds umami flavor and is the base of many Japanese sauces and marinades.
- Granulated sugar - Sugar adds sweetness to the sauce.
- Sake - Sake adds savoriness.
- Soy sauce - Soy sauce, or shoyu in Japanese, is an essential condiment in Japanese cooking. It adds rich savory and umami flavors to the sauce.
Unagi Roll
- Rice - Japanese short grain rice is best for sushi because it is both sticky and fluffy enough to retain its shape. The rice is also lightly salted for flavor.
- Seasoned rice vinegar (sushi vinegar) - Seasoned rice vinegar is added to white rice to make sushi rice. The vinegar adds a light sweet and tart flavor.
- Unagi - Unagi is sweet and light with a fishy texture. It tastes delicious when cooked in unagi sauce.
- Cucumber - Cucumber adds a sweet crunch. Japanese cucumbers (Kyuri) are preferable because they are slightly sweeter than their American and European counterparts. They also have a thinner and slightly crispier skin.
- Nori seaweed sheets - Nori is dried Japanese seaweed used to wrap and keep the rice and filling together. Nori sheets also tastes delicious with the other ingredients.
- Sesame seeds - Toasted sesame seeds add a mild and nutty flavor.
See recipe card for quantities.
Instructions
- Make rice - Rinse rice in a bowl until it runs clear. Then make rice on the stovetop or in an electric rice cooker pot. Remove from heat and fluff with a fork. Transfer cooked rice to a bowl and season with seasoned rice vinegar. Fluff and fan the rice until cool.
- Make unagi sauce - While rice is cooking, add mirin, sugar, and sake to a sauce pan on medium heat. Whisk the ingredients. Once the mixture reaches a boil, turn down the heat to low and add the soy sauce and whisk. Simmer for 10 minutes and occasionally stir. Once the sauce thickens, remove from heat, then allow to cool. Store-bought unagi sauce is fine too!
- Prepare and cook unagi - Place the unagi fillet skin side down on an aluminum foil-lined baking sheet. Brush the unagi with unagi sauce and place on the middle rack. Place on the middle rack and bake for 12-15 minutes at 350° F.
- Broil - Broil for an additional 2 minutes, until bubbling and caramelized. Remove from the oven. Let cool and slice into ½ to ¾-inch strips.
- Assemble hand rolls - Cut nori sheets in half widthwise. Take one piece of nori and place it in your hand, rough side up. Add a layer of rice to about a third of the nori sheet in your hand, then layer in cucumber and unagi strips. Sprinkle sesame seeds on top, then roll inward and form a cone. Serve with wasabi, pickled ginger, and soy sauce.
Hint: If the unagi sauce is too thick, mix in an extra tablespoon of soy sauce and mirin to thin it.
Substitutions
- Teriyaki sauce - Substitute unagi sauce with teriyaki sauce if you prefer a slightly sweeter sauce with a more molasses like flavor.
- Store-bought unagi sauce - If you don't feel like making the sauce yourself, you can buy premade unagi sauce.
Variations
- Regular sushi roll - If you want to make this a regular sushi roll, see our instructions in our Crunchy Spicy California Sushi Roll. You will just need to use the sushi filling ingredients here instead. Please note that you will need a bamboo mat for the sushi roll.
- Sesame oil - Add ½ teaspoon of sesame oil to add a nutty flavor.
- Spicy - Make this hand roll with spicy mayo for an added kick.
- Avocado - Avocado adds creaminess and an earthy flavor.
- Tobiko or masago (Japanese Flying Fish Roe) - Roe adds a briny and savory taste to the sushi.
- Ikura (Salmon roe) - Ikura tastes similar to tobiko but is slightly less sweet.
- Extra unagi flavor - If you want to add extra unagi flavor to the roll, drizzle unagi sauce on the hand rolls.
- Green onion - Add green onion for a mild onion flavor.
- Daikon sprouts (Kaiware Daikon) - Daikon sprouts add a light pepperiness.
FAQ
You can buy the ingredients at Japanese markets, like Mitsuwa or Nijiya, or some common chain grocery stores.
Yes, unagi is high in vitamins A and E, and omega-3 fatty acids. Cucumber is also high in nutrients and antioxidants. The only part of this dish that isn't super healthy is white rice since it is high in carbohydrates without much added nutrition. If you want to make this dish healthier, you can use brown rice instead of white rice.
Yes, unagi is pre cooked and marinated through a process called kabayaki. We cook it again to warm it up and provide texture.
No, unagi's mercury level is about 0.052 PPM. This is considered to be a very low level of mercury.
Yes, unagi is already precooked then frozen, then we cook it again in the recipe. As a result, it should be safe to eat while pregnant. However, we recommend consulting with your doctor before eating it.
Eel blood is technically poisonous because it contains a toxic protein. But both cooking the eel and the human digestive process destroy the toxic protein.
Equipment
This eel sushi recipe requires a few kitchen essentials. To make these eel sushi rolls, you will need a knife, cutting board, mixing bowls, a pot or rice cooker to make the rice, a bamboo mat to shape the roll, and a rice paddle.
To explore more kitchen items to make your kitchen complete, head to our Kitchen Essentials Shop.
Storage
This unagi roll is best enjoyed immediately or within 1 day of making. Store it in an air-tight container in the refrigerator. The key is to keep the moisture locked in so the roll doesn't dry out. This eel roll recipe does not stand up well to freezing.
Top tips
- When you are cooking the rice, make sure you don't add too much water or the rice will become mushy (we want it firm).
- Be careful to not overcook the rice or it will be too hard and not pliable enough to use for sushi.
- Be sure to let the rice cool before using it, or it will become rubbery on the nori.
- If you are using a rice cooker and the outside of the rice gets crispy and hard, use a fork to fluff the rice and add moisture back into those crispy bits.
- If you are having a hard time getting the nori to stick to itself when you roll the sushi, you can smash a few grains of rice where the nori needs to stick to itself.
Did You Like this Recipe?
If you liked this unagi roll recipe, please rate and comment on the recipe below! If you want to make similar Japanese cuisine and seafood, check these out:
- Unagi Don (Unadon)
- Broiled Salmon Collars (Sake Kama)
- Crunchy Spicy California Sushi Roll
- Alaska Sushi Roll
- Hamachi Crudo (Yellowtail Carpaccio)
Unagi Sushi (Eel Hand Roll)
Ingredients
Unagi Roll
- 1½ cup Japanese short grain rice
- 2 cups filtered water
- 1½ tablespoon sushi vinegar
- 5 oz unagi
- 2 tablespoon unagi (eel) sauce homemade or store-bought
- 1 small cucumber julienned cut into matchsticks
- 2 tablespoon kaiware daikon daikon sprouts, optional
- 5 nori sheets cut in half
- sesame seeds
Instructions
Rice
- Stovetop instructions - Place rice in a saucepan and rinse the rice in the sink until the water runs clear, then drain. Combine washed rice and filtered water in a medium saucepan. Bring the rice to a low boil, then reduce the heat to low. Cover the pot and simmer for 20 minutes or until the water is absorbed. Remove from the heat and let sit covered for 10 minutes. Fluff the rice with a fork.1½ cup Japanese short grain rice, 2 cups filtered water
- Rice cooker instructions - Place rice in the electric rice cooker pot and rinse the rice in the sink until the water runs clear, then drain. Combine rice and filtered water in the pot and cook per the rice cooker directions.
- Make sushi rice - Transfer to rice to a bowl and season with seasoned rice vinegar. Fluff and fan the rice until cool.1½ tablespoon sushi vinegar
Homemade Unagi Sauce
- Mix ingredients - While rice is cooking, add mirin, sugar, and sake to a sauce pan on medium heat. Whisk the ingredients. Once the mixture reaches a boil, turn down the heat to low and add the soy sauce and whisk. Simmer for 10 minutes and occasionally stir.6 tablespoon Mirin, 3 tablespoon Granulated sugar, 2 tablespoon sake, 6 tablespoon soy sauce
- Cool and store - Once the sauce thickens to the desired consistency, remove from heat. If it's too thick, mix in an extra tablespoon of soy sauce and mirin to thin the sauce. Allow to cool.
Unagi Roll
- Prepare and cook unagi - Place the unagi fillet skin side down on an aluminum foil-lined baking sheet. Brush the unagi with unagi sauce and place on the middle rack. Place on the middle rack and bake for 12-15 minutes at 350° F.5 oz unagi, 2 tablespoon unagi (eel) sauce
- Broil - Broil for an additional 2 minutes, until bubbling and caramelized. Remove from the oven. Let cool and slice into ½ to ¾-inch strips.
- Assemble hand rolls - Cut nori sheets in half widthwise. Take one piece of nori and place it in your hand, rough side up. Add a layer of rice to about a third of the nori sheet that is in your hand, then layer in cucumber, daikon sprouts, and unagi strips. Sprinkle sesame seeds on top, then roll inward and form a cone. Serve with wasabi, pickled ginger, and soy sauce.1 small cucumber, 5 nori sheets, sesame seeds, 2 tablespoon kaiware daikon
Notes
Storage
This unagi roll is best enjoyed immediately or within 1 day of making. Store it in an air-tight container in the refrigerator. The key is to keep the moisture locked in so the roll doesn't dry out. This crunchy roll recipe does not stand up well to freezing.Top tips
- When you are cooking the rice, make sure you don't add too much water or the rice will become mushy (we want it firm).
- Be careful to not overcook the rice or it will be too hard and not pliable enough to use for sushi.
- Be sure to let the rice cool before using it, or it will become rubbery on the nori.
- If you are using a rice cooker and the outside of the rice gets crispy and hard, use a fork to fluff the rice and add moisture back into those crispy bits.
- If you are having a hard time getting the nori to stick to itself when you roll the sushi, you can smash a few grains of rice where the nori needs to stick to itself.
Nutrition
Food safety
- Do not use the same utensils on cooked food, that previously touched raw meat
- Wash hands after touching raw meat
- Don't leave food sitting out at room temperature for extended periods
- Never leave cooking food unattended
- Use oils with high smoking point to avoid harmful compounds
- Always have good ventilation when using a gas stove
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