Recipe for maki roll with eel

Despite the fact that maki rolls can often be considered a light snack, unagi rolls are a completely self-sufficient dish, because the eel meat is very nutritious. Sweet, with a slight bitterness, the pulp is perfectly combined with tender rice, salty nori and spicy wasabi, and special unagi sauce will help to emphasize the taste of the rolls to the maximum. This is a thick dressing based on soy sauce, a viscous dark salty-sweet liquid, which is necessarily served with all eel dishes.

The ingredients for maki rolls with eel

Let’s start cooking this delicious dish! Unagi maki (for one portion weighing 110 g) includes the following products:

• 0.5 sheet — Katana nori seaweed;
• 80 g — cooked and seasoned rice for sushi “Japonica” Katana;
• 30 g — smoked eel;
• 5 g — Katana “Unagi” sauce;
• 3 g — Katana black sesame seeds;
• 1 g — Katana wasabi.

The steps for making unagi maki

A few simple steps are enough to prepare wonderful rolls:

1. Cut a sheet of nori in half and place it on a bamboo mat with the rough side up.
2. Carefully lay out the prepared seasoned rice in a dense, even layer. Ultimately, only one and a half centimeters of the upper edge of the nori sheet should remain free.
3. Do not turn the mat over, the empty part of the nori sheet should be at the top. Coat the rice with spicy wasabi.
4. Cut the skinned fish into strips and place them across the entire width of the sheet in the center. If you are working with eel for the first time, we recommend cutting the fillet until it is completely thawed.
5. Wrap the roll using a special mat for sushi, having previously slightly moistened the free edge of the seaweed with water. Do not forget to make sure that the edge with rice coincides with the beginning of the empty strip — so the place of gluing will be practically invisible.
6. Cut the roll with a sharp knife pre-soaked in water into 6-8 pieces and serve with unagi soy sauce, wasabi and ginger.

Smoked eel is a common filling for rolls, especially among Americans and Europeans, who do not particularly trust raw fish. But few people know that this name is not entirely correct — the way in which eel meat is prepared is more similar to grilling. The fish is marinated in a special sweet sauce, part of which must remain in the package with the eel, thanks to which the meat acquires an exquisite taste and aroma, and then it is cooked.

Eel fillets are usually sold whole in frozen form, as they do not lose their useful and tasty qualities when frozen and are well transported. So, if you need a small piece, we recommend cutting it off without defrosting the whole carcass and then storing the fish in the freezer — the main thing is to remember to use the leftovers before the expiration date. However, it is unlikely that this fish will stay in your refrigerator for a long time, because eel meat is a popular ingredient for soups, as well as a frequent filling option for various rolls, including maki sushi.

Now you know the recipe for maki roll with eel. Prepare this delicious treat for yourself and your loved ones, making a real oriental meal in your own kitchen!