Ika and Unagi – Twin Sea Delicacies

If you were to ask me, “Brian, do you ever think about just how gross the things are that you eat?”  I would have to say, “Yes I think about what I eat; and No, gross rarely enters my mind.”

The one exception might be eel.  I had run ins with eel as a so-called menu item  prior to moving to Japan.  It had never been a pleasant run in. Boney? Yes.  Slimey? Yes.  Gooey? Yes.  Inedible?  By and large, most definitely yes!  That has all changed since moving to Japan.  I love eel – unagi – now.  So I never eat eel when I don’t tell it, “I used to think you were gross, but now I am quite fond of you.”  This may lead you to ask, “Gee Brian, do you regularly talk to your food.”  Sadly the answer is that in my search for a meaningful life, I do, on a regular basis find myself talking to dead pieces of sea creatures.  I like that their ear-less chunks appear to listen so attentively.  And when I shake them they appear to nod in agreement with my ideas.

There are three things that I absolutely love about eel (“unagi” in Japanese):  how sweet and tender the meat is; the wonderful hint of peppery smokiness the sauce has; and, that the sushi version requires a little torch to prepare.  I love saddling up to a sushi bar and ordering unagi just so I can watch the sushi chef go from creating a perfectly sized rice log before firing up a torch and flame cooking my long sliver of eel.  The encore for this performance is  the chef artistically painting the unagi with a splash of sauce.

There have been many a day when I have stood in the middle of the street outside my favorite bakery, taking in the aroma of freshly baked bread as it combines with smoke of freshly grilled eel from the unagi restaurant next door.  I risk being run down in the street by waddling old women with odd colored hair pushing their little yippy dogs in portable doggie carts and young women dashing with infant filled strollers, just to wrap myself in these fragrances.

You can likely imagine my glee then when Carolyn got off the plane raving about the eel she had had on the plane and wondering if I could fix her some.  Most certainly!  So yesterday, I finally got around to picking up two kabobs of grilled unagi.  MMMMMMMMMMMM!  UNAGI! YUMMY!

While I can find eating companions to share unagi, I am having a much harder time finding folks who share my love of ika – squid.  In case you haven’t been following along, I issued  a challenge to three blogging friends to prepare fresh squid.  Pat reports that the squid aren’t running this year in the Smokey Mountains.  And despite a trip to the  East coast, hasn’t been able to lay his hands on any.  Curt too has commented that while the White River has an abundance of crawdads, fresh water squid are not yet appearing in the heartland.  He too took a trip to the East Coast, but decided to get lost with his GPS. (Maybe he should have told his “TinaTina” to go to “Squid”)  Scott, I fear, has set out to find the perfect mix of George Micheal, Pet Shop Boys, and Kome Kome Club music.  That last sentence may well be the best reason ever to NOT stop drinking caffeine.

I though, have continued my culinary journey.  It is the most wonderful time of year here in Japan:  Hanami, or cherry blossom viewing.  This means that the best food vendors have gathered in Ueno Park to prepare foods best eaten and enjoyed in a festive atmosphere.  There is tacoyaki – octopus filled dumplings; grilled corn on the cob – brushed with a soy sause; freshly smoked fish on a stick; okonomiyaki – often referred to as Japanese pizza, although I tend to thing pancake with cabbage and last night’s leftovers as a better description; yakisoba – grilled buckwheat noodles mixed with random strips of meat and stir-fried cabbage; ebi-katsu – breaded and deep fried shrimp; and of course, freshly grilled ika – squid.

The squid have already been boiled in a mixture of mirin – a rice wine vinegar, sake, sugar, and soy sauce.  They are then lightly grilled and set out on display on cedar branches.  Once ordered they are tossed on the hot grill, cut into rings and pieces, splashed with more sauce till warm and then served up with some mayonnaise on the side.

Trust me, just like with the tacoyaki, a little mayonnaise helps the whole thing go down easier.  I also need to point out that the Japanese version of squid is not skinned, while the Italian recipes will suggest that you skin them.  I have to say the Italians have it right on this count.  The white meat of the squid is far more tender than what your wrinkled nose tells me you suspect it would be.  The skin, while very thin, has more elasticity than a super strong rubber band.  Trying to skin a cooked squid just doesn’t work.  This of course did not stop me from eating  the squid, although I did need more mayo.

Did Carolyn and Sachan try my yakiika?  No.  Carolyn had some deep fried shrimp and boiled potatoes while Sachan had yakisoba.  She also asked for a piece of yakimochi – grilled mochi, the gelatinous rice, wrapped in seaweed.  She said it was fabulous!

We would have made you a doggie bag, but daggonit, we ate it all.