Kabayaki
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Script error: No such module "Nihongo". is a preparation of fish, especially unagi eel,[1] where the fish is split down the back[2] (or belly), gutted and boned, butterflied, cut into square fillets, skewered, and dipped in a sweet soy sauce-based marinade before being cooked on a grill or griddle.
Besides unagi, the same preparation is made of other long scaleless fish such as hamo (pike conger),[2] dojō (loach),[1][2] catfish,[1] anago (conger eel),[1] and Script error: No such module "Nihongo". (gunnels).[1] One can also find canned products labeled as kabayaki-style sanma (Pacific saury).
Kabayaki eel is very popular and a rich source of vitamins A and E, and omega-3 fatty acids.[3] A popular custom from the Edo period[4] calls for eating kabayaki during the summer to gain stamina,[4] especially on a mid-summer day called Midsummer Ox Day (Script error: No such module "Nihongo".,[3][4]) which falls between July 18 and August 8 each year.[5]
The eel kabayaki is often served on top of a bowl (donburi) of rice, and called unadon, the fancier form of which is the unajū, placed inside a lacquered box called jūbako. It is also torn up and mixed up evenly with rice to make Script error: No such module "Nihongo"., which is enjoyed especially in the Nagoya area.
Kantō vs. Kansai
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Broadly, two schools of cooking kabayaki exist. In the Kantō region (eastern Japan), the eel is slit down its back[6] and butterflied, so a lighter-colored stripe of the belly runs down the middle of each fillet on the skin side. The long eel is cut into shorter, squarer fillets and skewered.[7] In Kanto, the skewered eel is first grilled, plain, into what is known as Script error: No such module "Nihongo".,[1][7] then steamed, before being flavored and grilled again; as a result, it turns out more tender and flakier after grilling.[8]
In the Kansai region (western Japan), the eel is slit down the belly[6] and directly grilled without being steamed, often still in their original length, and called Script error: No such module "Nihongo"..[7] The outer skin can be tough and chewy, so eel cooked in Kansai style may be placed between layers of hot rice, for the steam to help tenderize it.
In the Kansai area, the eel is often called mamushi,[7][9] just like the name of the common viper in Japan, Gloydius blomhoffii). Some speculate the name is a corruption of mabushi meaning "besprinkle",[7] while others say it is a reference to the eel being rather similar to the viper in shape and vigor-endowing abilities when consumed.[7]
Etymology
Several hypothesized origins for the name kabayaki are given. The name came to be generally written using the kanji 蒲焼 meaning cattail-grilled. Resemblance to the brown plush flower spikes of the cattail plant has been suggested as etymological origin in several old writings (Script error: No such module "Nihongo".; the writings of Template:Interlanguage link multi; Script error: No such module "Nihongo".[10]). Food historian Script error: No such module "Nihongo".(1881–1958) has argued that originally the whole eel was skewered vertically and cooked that way, giving rise to the name on the resemblance to the cattail both in form and color.[1][11] This is incidentally the same as one hypothesized etymology for kamaboko.
Another touted theory explains the name as due to resemblance of the charred skin side to the Script error: No such module "Nihongo".[1] (Script error: No such module "Nihongo"., Script error: No such module "Nihongo"..[10] Motoyama also notes a proposed etymology from Script error: No such module "Nihongo"..[1]
References
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- ↑ a b c d e f g h i Script error: No such module "Footnotes"., vol. 7,"kabayaki" by Script error: No such module "Nihongo". describes it as being used principally or almost always for unagi (「もっぱら鰻」)
- ↑ a b c Script error: No such module "Footnotes". the Japanese dictionary says kabayaki applies to such fish as ungai, hamo, and dojō
- ↑ a b Script error: No such module "Footnotes"., p.144-
- ↑ a b c Script error: No such module "Footnotes"., pp.167-8, repeats a story of an eel purveyor from Edo who asked a calligrapher to write the Ox (day) character as a sign
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1"., p.372 describes Doyo as "about eighteen days from July 20th", though in actuality the beginning date can shift a day or two. The days cycle through the twelve animals (twelve heavenly branches) so any one or two of the dates within the eighteen-day period can fall on an Ox day.
- ↑ a b Script error: No such module "Footnotes"., p.140
- ↑ a b c d e f Script error: No such module "citation/CS1"., p.9
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1"., p.144-
- ↑ Script error: No such module "Footnotes"., p.9
- ↑ a b Script error: No such module "citation/CS1"., p.67
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
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Further reading
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- Script error: No such module "citation/CS1". (4th edition)
- Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- Script error: No such module "citation/CS1". (world encyclopedia, in Japanese), vol. 7, article on "kabayaki" by Script error: No such module "Nihongo". (1881-1958).
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- triptych print "Edomae ōkabayaki" Picture by Shuntei, 1806 The British Museum