Another Eel Dish For Doyo-no-ushi Day In Local Style

Today, I'd like to introduce a local style of grilled eel dish in Nagoya area (Aichi prefecture) as a continuation of my previous post. Since almost any area in Japan has some local special products, dishes, or cooking styles, there are also different recipes or dishes for eels. 

You might think it looks very similar to the previous eel dish I showed yesterday. However, this one is called "Hitsumabushi", and clearly distinguished from the previous one called "Unajuu/Unadon".  The main difference is not the recipe, actually how you eat differentiates this dish from "Unajuu/Unadon".

Regarding "Unajuu/Unadon", people eat it as it is, because the grilled eel was already dipped in a sauce while it was grilling and has enough seasoning. The grilled eel of  "Hitsumabushi" is also seasoned as well, but as a unique feature, the dish is recommended to eat in three steps.

As a first step, eat it as is and enjoy taste of grilled eel, then proceed to the second step. As you can see in the upper left hand side photo, there are three small dishes in front. They are all additional flavors, such as green onion, Wasabi, and Shiso (a Japanese herb). So people can change the taste of the dish with these additional flavors. Then at the end, a clear soup will be served for the third step. It is to pour onto the grilled eel and rice. After adding a topping of Nori (a seaweed), people can enjoy the grilled-eel rice soup. 

With these three steps, one dish gets different tastes/flavors/textures, and people can finish "Hitsumabushi" even though it may look like too much food in the beginning. Even outside of Doyo-no-ushi Day in summer, I think it's worth trying out when you have a chance to visit Nagoya area!