Unagi Don (Unadon) is an umami-packed rice bowl featuring broiled Japanese eel dressed in unagi sauce. Serve over steamed rice and top with nori, sesame seeds, and scallions. Make this delicious donburi for a quick dinner with homemade or store-bought unagi sauce.
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.
1 cup rice, 1⅓ cup 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.
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.
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 Don
Prepare and cook unagi - Cut the unagi fillet in half widthwise and place them skin side down on an aluminum foil-lined baking sheet. Brush the unagi with unagi sauce and place on the middle rack. Bake for 12-15 minutes at 350°F.
11 oz unagi fillet
Brush with sauce - Broil for an additional 2 minutes, until bubbling and caramelized. Remove from the oven.
Assemble the bowl - Divide the rice into the two bowls. Brush the rice with unagi sauce and place a fillet on top of each bed of rice. Garnish with sesame seeds, kizami nori, scallions, or sansho pepper if desired.
Kizami nori for garnish, sesame seeds for garnish, scallion
Notes
Storage
This unagi don is best enjoyed immediately or within 1 day of making. Store the ingredients in an air-tight container in the refrigerator. The key is to keep the moisture locked in so the rice doesn't dry out. This eel donburi recipe does not stand up well to freezing.
Top tips
Use a large bowl - Serve this dish in a large bowl or donburi bowl (slightly smaller than ramen bowls) to ensure all of the ingredients will fit.
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.