food recipes

Kabayaki (Japanese style grilled eel) sushi with cucumber and egg

Kabayaki is a Japanese style grilled ell. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kabayaki 

As it is rich and nutritious, Japanese people often eat Unagi in the early summer to boost their energy in coping with humid and dump weather.

Got some nice kabayaki pieces from Japan. Like the image above, people put some pieces over the rice to serve each. We got one pouch left. It wasn't enough for two. Sushi rice with cucumber and egg was a solution.

Ingredients:

• One pouch of Unagi-kabayaki (about 150g)
• One small cucumber
• One egg
• Rice for two people
• 1.5 table spoons of cider vinegar or rice vinegar
• 1.5 table spoons of sugar
• 1/2 tea spoon of salt

Directions

1. Cook the rice.

2.Beat the egg and spread thinly over the heated up frying pan. Once the egg gets set, take it aside to cool down.

3. Slice the cucumber and the egg thinly.

4. Mix the vinegar, sugar and salt. Scoop the rice that is just done from the rice pan for two people's portion into a bowl and dress with the sushi vinegar. If you use cooked (cold) rice, heat it up in microwave for 1.5 mins before adding sushi vinegar. The heat from the rice evaporate the extra moisture of vinegar and settles the sharpness of its flavour.

5. Chop the unagi into 1.5 cm pieces. Add all the other ingredients into the rice and mix well.

6. Top with shredded seaweed paper to serve.

Time to prepare: 25 mins
Total cost: 1.4 pound (0.6 for rice, 0.4 for egg, 0.4 for cucumber, the kabayaki was gift)
You can purchase pouched kabayaki at Japanese shops in about 10-11 pounds per a large piece. 

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