Freshwater vs. Saltwater

When most people think of eating eel in Japanese cuisine, they think of broiled freshwater eel, or unagi.  After brushing the unagi with a sweet sauce, it is broiled.  It is typically served either as sushi (on a ball of rice) or in a rectangle box (covering rice).  For the longest time, I refused to eat it.  Eel are not attractive water creatures.  They freak me out.  So, I was not interested in eating them.  But ever since my husband cooked it for me over 10 years ago, I have been hooked. 

But there is a second type of eel that is pretty popular here, as well.  Anago, saltwater eel, is a lighter, less oily eel.  The sauce used on it is much lighter as well.  Anago is often simmered or served as tempura.

We found a restaurant in Tsukiji Outer Market that specializes in anago to enjoy a special meal of saltwater eel.  Tsukiji Yoshino is a very small restaurant.  There are only 8 seats at a counter on the first floor and 4 tables of 4 on the second floor.  I am still so impressed that restaurants can have 24 (or fewer) seats and stay in business.  Since we were a party of 3, we were seated upstairs at a table.

My husband ordered a beautiful lunch with anago cooked in two ways - fried eel with a sweet sauce and broiled eel. 

I picked a rice bowl with broiled anago, tuna and salmon sashimi, and an omelet with anago cooked in the middle. 

They don't have a kid's menu.  Many restaurants here don't, especially small restaurants.  We decided to not order anything for our son.  Instead we chose to just share our meals with him.  When my husband told this to our waitress, she asked if we wanted extra rice.  It all worked out nicely.

Anago is very different than unagi.  If they were eaten side-by-side, you might think they were totally different fish, even though they look very similar.  Beyond flavor, anago isn't as common as it's freshwater cousin.  I don't think I've ever seen it in a regular grocery store, where unagi can easily be found. 

It was a nice treat to go to this restaurant.  It felt so decedent, even with its simple plating.  Of course, my son loved it.  He delights in most of the fish we eat here.  Anago is definaltly worth trying, even if you don't care for unagi.