Local Cuisine: Hitsumabushi in Nagoya

Grilled eel. The thought of eating eel (unagi) will make the average person think twice. But the thought of passing by a local specialty dish without trying it, would be close to foodie sacrilege. And so, upon setting foot in Nagoya (one of Japan’s largest cities) my mouth salivated, thinking about my first experience with this dish called Hitsumabushi.

And what a pleasant experience it was!

Armand trying his hitsumabushi

Nagoya is Japan’s biggest producer of fresh water eel and the region has also developed its own unique styles of food, which can be seen as comfort foods, such as pork cutlets served with a red miso sauce (misokatsu) or deep fried chicken wings (tebasaki). I wouldn’t classify these meals in the same refined category of most of the big cities such as Kyoto or Osaka, except for the hitsumabushi – which is definitely one of the most popular dishes in the restaurant we went to (everyone in the restaurant ordered the meal!).

Eating hitsumabushi is an experience on its own;

You are served a large bowl, filled with fluffy, steamed rice and topped with strips of eel that has been slathered in a slightly rich sauce and then grilled (not steamed first). Accompanying this large bowl is a rice bowl, a plate of condiments and (in our case) a tea pot containing broth. 

The Hitsumabushi set

Grilled Eel 

Unagi on rice

You first take the first portion of the unagi and rice and place it in your rice bowl, eating it as is. No toppings or condiments added. The purpose of this step is to enjoy the flavor of the eel.  It has a slightly salty taste, yet the texture is slightly flakey. There is also a delicate wooden taste of the grill.

The first portion is eaten as is, no condiments or toppings are added

The second portion is eaten by adding some of the condiments, such as pickles and wasabi and some spring onions. Here the crispness of the spring onions and the slight acidity of the pickles brightened up the slightly smokey taste of the unagi.

Wasabi and Spring Onions

Pickles

Unagi with condiments added

The third portion is eaten by adding some condiments, just like before, but you also add some of the broth into your bowl. The broth was a salty green tea based broth. The tang of the wasabi was lessened by the broth and it, of course, completely changed the texture of the unagi. 

Unagi with the broth and condiments

The last portion is eaten just the way you like, with or without condiments.

To me, the experience was definitely worth its weight in Yen. I loved the difference in tastes and textures as you eat the unagi and I can see why it is such a popular dish.

Have you ever tried unagi or more specifically, hitsumabushi? Would you like to try it? Tell me what you think.

In after thought: I do not agree with the over-fishing of wild unagi – unfortunately the population has decreased significantly, worldwide… (But most of the unagi in Japan is farm-reared, which, to me is also an issue...) 

So this is something I wouldn’t eat as often, but it is worth the experience while travelling to Nagoya.