A culinary online center dedicated to promoting the importance and the joy of American home cooking with an emphasis on local products and talent, celebrating the unique spirit and energy of the new food world ethos, especially in Vermont.
amuse bouche
I love quotes that add meaning to my life. Here are a few to live by:
How should I eat? (Not too much)
—Michael Pollan
If it is so difficult to learn to cook, how did all those early pioneer women manage to cross the country in rugged covered wagons and feed troops of people from one big pot hung over an open fire?
—Marion Cunningham, from Learning to Cook
Treat treats as treats.
—Michael Pollan
No matter how you slice it through, grain-fed meat production systems are a drain on the global food supply.
—Jonathan A. Foley, director of the Institute on the Environment, U of MN
Unagi – Preparation and Serving Suggestions

READ THE FULL BLOG POST HERE
Unagi, aka BBQ Freshwater Eel, is a delicious combination of salty and sweet. The following will tell you how to make tasty unagi sauce, prepare homemade BBQ Eel, as well as serving suggestions. Unigi sauce can be used to grill your own eel, or as a condiment. It is great as a substitute for teriyaki sauce; marinade for chicken, beef, or pork; addition to fried rice; sauté sauce for mushrooms; the list goes on!
UNAGI SAUCE
Ingredients:
1/2 cup mirin*
1/2 cup cooking sake†
1/2 cup soy sauce‡
1/4 cup sugar
*Be a conscientious shopper when looking for Mirin. Both of the local Asian grocers were selling “aji-Mirin,” which is basically corn syrup. I found Eden Mirin at our local co-op, City Market (go figure!).
†I substituted cooking rice wine, as I could not find cooking sake. You could probably use regular sake, as well. If you have food allergies, be careful when buying rice wines, as many of them include gluten. There is typically an allergen warning on the label. I used Lily Cooking Michiu, which is gluten free.
‡Our house is gluten free, so we substituted with soy-free coconut aminos. Other gluten free options are to use Bragg’s Liquid Aminos.
Method:
Put all ingredients into a small saucepan and stir until blended. Bring to a low boil, then simmer, uncovered, until sauce thickens (about 15 minutes).
You can scale the recipe up or down. Just use a 2:1 ratio for each liquid:sugar. Makes about one cup, as listed.

BBQ Eel
Ingredients:
1 lb Freshwater Eel
1 cup Unagi Sauce
Method:
Here is where I admit I am no butchering expert. I watched some YouTube videos of prepping eel, but the people in the videos are VERY adept with a knife. So…I took about 30 minutes to do a sloppier job of what the guys in the video did in about 60 seconds. To prep, gut it, get the bones out, cut in half lengthwise, then cut into 4″ steaks. Leave the skin on – it will help while grilling.
Start your grill and turn heat to medium. While the grill is heating, skewer the steaks.
Grill the Eel, skin side down, for three minutes. Flip and grill another three minutes. Turn the eel, baste with unagi sauce, and grill one minute skin side. Flip again, baste with more unagi sauce, and grill one more minute.

Serving Suggestions
Serve with rice, cucumber, bell pepper, and green onion. Drizzle some of the remaining unagi sauce over the dish. There are many more suggestions on the website, Savor Japan.
Comments: While it may be common to eat the skin on the eel served at a Japanese or sushi restaurant, I found the skin to be tougher than I’d like. It was very easy to peel after cooking.
Posted: 6-2-2019
object(WP_Query)#401 (51) {
["query_vars"]=>
array(64) {
["page"]=>
int(0)
["name"]=>
string(41) "unagi-preparation-and-serving-suggestions"
["category_name"]=>
string(7) "recipes"
["error"]=>
string(0) ""
["m"]=>
string(0) ""
["p"]=>
int(0)
["post_parent"]=>
string(0) ""
["subpost"]=>
string(0) ""
["subpost_id"]=>
string(0) ""
["attachment"]=>
string(0) ""
["attachment_id"]=>
int(0)
["pagename"]=>
string(0) ""
["page_id"]=>
int(0)
["second"]=>
string(0) ""
["minute"]=>
string(0) ""
["hour"]=>
string(0) ""
["day"]=>
int(0)
["monthnum"]=>
int(0)
["year"]=>
int(0)
["w"]=>
int(0)
["tag"]=>
string(0) ""
["cat"]=>
string(0) ""
["tag_id"]=>
string(0) ""
["author"]=>
string(0) ""
["author_name"]=>
string(0) ""
["feed"]=>
string(0) ""
["tb"]=>
string(0) ""
["paged"]=>
int(0)
["meta_key"]=>
string(0) ""
["meta_value"]=>
string(0) ""
["preview"]=>
string(0) ""
["s"]=>
string(0) ""
["sentence"]=>
string(0) ""
["title"]=>
string(0) ""
["fields"]=>
string(0) ""
["menu_order"]=>
string(0) ""
["embed"]=>
string(0) ""
["category__in"]=>
array(0) {
}
["category__not_in"]=>
array(0) {
}
["category__and"]=>
array(0) {
}
["post__in"]=>
array(0) {
}
["post__not_in"]=>
array(0) {
}
["post_name__in"]=>
array(0) {
}
["tag__in"]=>
array(0) {
}
["tag__not_in"]=>
array(0) {
}
["tag__and"]=>
array(0) {
}
["tag_slug__in"]=>
array(0) {
}
["tag_slug__and"]=>
array(0) {
}
["post_parent__in"]=>
array(0) {
}
["post_parent__not_in"]=>
array(0) {
}
["author__in"]=>
array(0) {
}
["author__not_in"]=>
array(0) {
}
["ignore_sticky_posts"]=>
bool(false)
["suppress_filters"]=>
bool(false)
["cache_results"]=>
bool(true)
["update_post_term_cache"]=>
bool(true)
["lazy_load_term_meta"]=>
bool(true)
["update_post_meta_cache"]=>
bool(true)
["post_type"]=>
string(0) ""
["posts_per_page"]=>
int(5)
["nopaging"]=>
bool(false)
["comments_per_page"]=>
string(2) "50"
["no_found_rows"]=>
bool(false)
["order"]=>
string(4) "DESC"
}
["tax_query"]=>
NULL
["meta_query"]=>
object(WP_Meta_Query)#979 (9) {
["queries"]=>
array(0) {
}
["relation"]=>
NULL
["meta_table"]=>
NULL
["meta_id_column"]=>
NULL
["primary_table"]=>
NULL
["primary_id_column"]=>
NULL
["table_aliases:protected"]=>
array(0) {
}
["clauses:protected"]=>
array(0) {
}
["has_or_relation:protected"]=>
bool(false)
}
["date_query"]=>
bool(false)
["post_count"]=>
int(1)
["current_post"]=>
int(0)
["in_the_loop"]=>
bool(true)
["comment_count"]=>
int(0)
["current_comment"]=>
int(-1)
["found_posts"]=>
int(1)
["max_num_pages"]=>
int(0)
["max_num_comment_pages"]=>
int(0)
["is_single"]=>
bool(true)
["is_preview"]=>
bool(false)
["is_page"]=>
bool(false)
["is_archive"]=>
bool(false)
["is_date"]=>
bool(false)
["is_year"]=>
bool(false)
["is_month"]=>
bool(false)
["is_day"]=>
bool(false)
["is_time"]=>
bool(false)
["is_author"]=>
bool(false)
["is_category"]=>
bool(false)
["is_tag"]=>
bool(false)
["is_tax"]=>
bool(false)
["is_search"]=>
bool(false)
["is_feed"]=>
bool(false)
["is_comment_feed"]=>
bool(false)
["is_trackback"]=>
bool(false)
["is_home"]=>
bool(false)
["is_404"]=>
bool(false)
["is_embed"]=>
bool(false)
["is_paged"]=>
bool(false)
["is_admin"]=>
bool(false)
["is_attachment"]=>
bool(false)
["is_singular"]=>
bool(true)
["is_robots"]=>
bool(false)
["is_posts_page"]=>
bool(false)
["is_post_type_archive"]=>
bool(false)
["query_vars_hash:private"]=>
string(32) "308885fb71371b6c8702f89e8a66719b"
["query_vars_changed:private"]=>
bool(false)
["thumbnails_cached"]=>
bool(false)
["stopwords:private"]=>
NULL
["compat_fields:private"]=>
array(2) {
[0]=>
string(15) "query_vars_hash"
[1]=>
string(18) "query_vars_changed"
}
["compat_methods:private"]=>
array(2) {
[0]=>
string(16) "init_query_flags"
[1]=>
string(15) "parse_tax_query"
}
["query"]=>
array(3) {
["page"]=>
string(0) ""
["name"]=>
string(41) "unagi-preparation-and-serving-suggestions"
["category_name"]=>
string(7) "recipes"
}
["request"]=>
string(181) "SELECT wp_posts.* FROM wp_posts WHERE 1=1 AND wp_posts.post_name = 'unagi-preparation-and-serving-suggestions' AND wp_posts.post_type = 'post' ORDER BY wp_posts.post_date DESC "
["posts"]=>
&array(1) {
[0]=>
object(WP_Post)#981 (24) {
["ID"]=>
int(5167)
["post_author"]=>
string(1) "8"
["post_date"]=>
string(19) "2019-06-02 13:26:29"
["post_date_gmt"]=>
string(19) "2019-06-02 17:26:29"
["post_content"]=>
string(4331) "
READ THE FULL BLOG POST HERE
Unagi, aka BBQ Freshwater Eel, is a delicious combination of salty and sweet. The following will tell you how to make tasty unagi sauce, prepare homemade BBQ Eel, as well as serving suggestions. Unigi sauce can be used to grill your own eel, or as a condiment. It is great as a substitute for teriyaki sauce; marinade for chicken, beef, or pork; addition to fried rice; sauté sauce for mushrooms; the list goes on!
UNAGI SAUCE
Ingredients:
1/2 cup mirin*
1/2 cup cooking sake†
1/2 cup soy sauce‡
1/4 cup sugar
*Be a conscientious shopper when looking for Mirin. Both of the local Asian grocers were selling "aji-Mirin," which is basically corn syrup. I found Eden Mirin at our local co-op, City Market (go figure!).
†I substituted cooking rice wine, as I could not find cooking sake. You could probably use regular sake, as well. If you have food allergies, be careful when buying rice wines, as many of them include gluten. There is typically an allergen warning on the label. I used Lily Cooking Michiu, which is gluten free.
‡Our house is gluten free, so we substituted with soy-free coconut aminos. Other gluten free options are to use Bragg's Liquid Aminos.
Method:
Put all ingredients into a small saucepan and stir until blended. Bring to a low boil, then simmer, uncovered, until sauce thickens (about 15 minutes).
You can scale the recipe up or down. Just use a 2:1 ratio for each liquid:sugar. Makes about one cup, as listed.

BBQ Eel
Ingredients:
1 lb Freshwater Eel
1 cup Unagi Sauce
Method:
Here is where I admit I am no butchering expert. I watched some YouTube videos of prepping eel, but the people in the videos are VERY adept with a knife. So...I took about 30 minutes to do a sloppier job of what the guys in the video did in about 60 seconds. To prep, gut it, get the bones out, cut in half lengthwise, then cut into 4" steaks. Leave the skin on - it will help while grilling.
Start your grill and turn heat to medium. While the grill is heating, skewer the steaks.
Grill the Eel, skin side down, for three minutes. Flip and grill another three minutes. Turn the eel, baste with unagi sauce, and grill one minute skin side. Flip again, baste with more unagi sauce, and grill one more minute.

Serving Suggestions
Serve with rice, cucumber, bell pepper, and green onion. Drizzle some of the remaining unagi sauce over the dish. There are many more suggestions on the website, Savor Japan.
Comments: While it may be common to eat the skin on the eel served at a Japanese or sushi restaurant, I found the skin to be tougher than I'd like. It was very easy to peel after cooking."
["post_title"]=>
string(43) "Unagi - Preparation and Serving Suggestions"
["post_excerpt"]=>
string(0) ""
["post_status"]=>
string(7) "publish"
["comment_status"]=>
string(4) "open"
["ping_status"]=>
string(4) "open"
["post_password"]=>
string(0) ""
["post_name"]=>
string(41) "unagi-preparation-and-serving-suggestions"
["to_ping"]=>
string(0) ""
["pinged"]=>
string(0) ""
["post_modified"]=>
string(19) "2019-06-02 21:24:22"
["post_modified_gmt"]=>
string(19) "2019-06-03 01:24:22"
["post_content_filtered"]=>
string(0) ""
["post_parent"]=>
int(0)
["guid"]=>
string(42) "http://inthekitchenwithbronwyn.com/?p=5167"
["menu_order"]=>
int(0)
["post_type"]=>
string(4) "post"
["post_mime_type"]=>
string(0) ""
["comment_count"]=>
string(1) "2"
["filter"]=>
string(3) "raw"
}
}
["post"]=>
object(WP_Post)#981 (24) {
["ID"]=>
int(5167)
["post_author"]=>
string(1) "8"
["post_date"]=>
string(19) "2019-06-02 13:26:29"
["post_date_gmt"]=>
string(19) "2019-06-02 17:26:29"
["post_content"]=>
string(4331) "
READ THE FULL BLOG POST HERE
Unagi, aka BBQ Freshwater Eel, is a delicious combination of salty and sweet. The following will tell you how to make tasty unagi sauce, prepare homemade BBQ Eel, as well as serving suggestions. Unigi sauce can be used to grill your own eel, or as a condiment. It is great as a substitute for teriyaki sauce; marinade for chicken, beef, or pork; addition to fried rice; sauté sauce for mushrooms; the list goes on!
UNAGI SAUCE
Ingredients:
1/2 cup mirin*
1/2 cup cooking sake†
1/2 cup soy sauce‡
1/4 cup sugar
*Be a conscientious shopper when looking for Mirin. Both of the local Asian grocers were selling "aji-Mirin," which is basically corn syrup. I found Eden Mirin at our local co-op, City Market (go figure!).
†I substituted cooking rice wine, as I could not find cooking sake. You could probably use regular sake, as well. If you have food allergies, be careful when buying rice wines, as many of them include gluten. There is typically an allergen warning on the label. I used Lily Cooking Michiu, which is gluten free.
‡Our house is gluten free, so we substituted with soy-free coconut aminos. Other gluten free options are to use Bragg's Liquid Aminos.
Method:
Put all ingredients into a small saucepan and stir until blended. Bring to a low boil, then simmer, uncovered, until sauce thickens (about 15 minutes).
You can scale the recipe up or down. Just use a 2:1 ratio for each liquid:sugar. Makes about one cup, as listed.

BBQ Eel
Ingredients:
1 lb Freshwater Eel
1 cup Unagi Sauce
Method:
Here is where I admit I am no butchering expert. I watched some YouTube videos of prepping eel, but the people in the videos are VERY adept with a knife. So...I took about 30 minutes to do a sloppier job of what the guys in the video did in about 60 seconds. To prep, gut it, get the bones out, cut in half lengthwise, then cut into 4" steaks. Leave the skin on - it will help while grilling.
Start your grill and turn heat to medium. While the grill is heating, skewer the steaks.
Grill the Eel, skin side down, for three minutes. Flip and grill another three minutes. Turn the eel, baste with unagi sauce, and grill one minute skin side. Flip again, baste with more unagi sauce, and grill one more minute.

Serving Suggestions
Serve with rice, cucumber, bell pepper, and green onion. Drizzle some of the remaining unagi sauce over the dish. There are many more suggestions on the website, Savor Japan.
Comments: While it may be common to eat the skin on the eel served at a Japanese or sushi restaurant, I found the skin to be tougher than I'd like. It was very easy to peel after cooking."
["post_title"]=>
string(43) "Unagi - Preparation and Serving Suggestions"
["post_excerpt"]=>
string(0) ""
["post_status"]=>
string(7) "publish"
["comment_status"]=>
string(4) "open"
["ping_status"]=>
string(4) "open"
["post_password"]=>
string(0) ""
["post_name"]=>
string(41) "unagi-preparation-and-serving-suggestions"
["to_ping"]=>
string(0) ""
["pinged"]=>
string(0) ""
["post_modified"]=>
string(19) "2019-06-02 21:24:22"
["post_modified_gmt"]=>
string(19) "2019-06-03 01:24:22"
["post_content_filtered"]=>
string(0) ""
["post_parent"]=>
int(0)
["guid"]=>
string(42) "http://inthekitchenwithbronwyn.com/?p=5167"
["menu_order"]=>
int(0)
["post_type"]=>
string(4) "post"
["post_mime_type"]=>
string(0) ""
["comment_count"]=>
string(1) "2"
["filter"]=>
string(3) "raw"
}
["queried_object"]=>
object(WP_Post)#981 (24) {
["ID"]=>
int(5167)
["post_author"]=>
string(1) "8"
["post_date"]=>
string(19) "2019-06-02 13:26:29"
["post_date_gmt"]=>
string(19) "2019-06-02 17:26:29"
["post_content"]=>
string(4331) "
READ THE FULL BLOG POST HERE
Unagi, aka BBQ Freshwater Eel, is a delicious combination of salty and sweet. The following will tell you how to make tasty unagi sauce, prepare homemade BBQ Eel, as well as serving suggestions. Unigi sauce can be used to grill your own eel, or as a condiment. It is great as a substitute for teriyaki sauce; marinade for chicken, beef, or pork; addition to fried rice; sauté sauce for mushrooms; the list goes on!
UNAGI SAUCE
Ingredients:
1/2 cup mirin*
1/2 cup cooking sake†
1/2 cup soy sauce‡
1/4 cup sugar
*Be a conscientious shopper when looking for Mirin. Both of the local Asian grocers were selling "aji-Mirin," which is basically corn syrup. I found Eden Mirin at our local co-op, City Market (go figure!).
†I substituted cooking rice wine, as I could not find cooking sake. You could probably use regular sake, as well. If you have food allergies, be careful when buying rice wines, as many of them include gluten. There is typically an allergen warning on the label. I used Lily Cooking Michiu, which is gluten free.
‡Our house is gluten free, so we substituted with soy-free coconut aminos. Other gluten free options are to use Bragg's Liquid Aminos.
Method:
Put all ingredients into a small saucepan and stir until blended. Bring to a low boil, then simmer, uncovered, until sauce thickens (about 15 minutes).
You can scale the recipe up or down. Just use a 2:1 ratio for each liquid:sugar. Makes about one cup, as listed.

BBQ Eel
Ingredients:
1 lb Freshwater Eel
1 cup Unagi Sauce
Method:
Here is where I admit I am no butchering expert. I watched some YouTube videos of prepping eel, but the people in the videos are VERY adept with a knife. So...I took about 30 minutes to do a sloppier job of what the guys in the video did in about 60 seconds. To prep, gut it, get the bones out, cut in half lengthwise, then cut into 4" steaks. Leave the skin on - it will help while grilling.
Start your grill and turn heat to medium. While the grill is heating, skewer the steaks.
Grill the Eel, skin side down, for three minutes. Flip and grill another three minutes. Turn the eel, baste with unagi sauce, and grill one minute skin side. Flip again, baste with more unagi sauce, and grill one more minute.

Serving Suggestions
Serve with rice, cucumber, bell pepper, and green onion. Drizzle some of the remaining unagi sauce over the dish. There are many more suggestions on the website, Savor Japan.
Comments: While it may be common to eat the skin on the eel served at a Japanese or sushi restaurant, I found the skin to be tougher than I'd like. It was very easy to peel after cooking."
["post_title"]=>
string(43) "Unagi - Preparation and Serving Suggestions"
["post_excerpt"]=>
string(0) ""
["post_status"]=>
string(7) "publish"
["comment_status"]=>
string(4) "open"
["ping_status"]=>
string(4) "open"
["post_password"]=>
string(0) ""
["post_name"]=>
string(41) "unagi-preparation-and-serving-suggestions"
["to_ping"]=>
string(0) ""
["pinged"]=>
string(0) ""
["post_modified"]=>
string(19) "2019-06-02 21:24:22"
["post_modified_gmt"]=>
string(19) "2019-06-03 01:24:22"
["post_content_filtered"]=>
string(0) ""
["post_parent"]=>
int(0)
["guid"]=>
string(42) "http://inthekitchenwithbronwyn.com/?p=5167"
["menu_order"]=>
int(0)
["post_type"]=>
string(4) "post"
["post_mime_type"]=>
string(0) ""
["comment_count"]=>
string(1) "2"
["filter"]=>
string(3) "raw"
}
["queried_object_id"]=>
int(5167)
}
SUBSCRIBE TO THIS BLOG’S FEED
Wow! It looks delicious! I’m impressed with your adventuresomeness.
(BTW my phone didn’t want to recognize “adventuresomeness.” It wanted to write “adventuresome essay” which is also accurate.)
PS Why not post the “before “ picture? 😉
Hi mom, the links sent weird…I posted the recipe before the blog so that I could link to it. Then when the email went out, it sent a link to just the recipe. I think I will re-post the blog next weekend so it will send the proper link!
I like “adventuresomeness”