Unadon

Unadon is a Japanese donburi, a bowl of steamed rice topped with kabayaki-style grilled freshwater eel brushed with a sweet soy glaze. The dish is named from unagi, the Japanese eel, and don, the word for a rice bowl.

What it really is

Unadon is built on freshwater eel (unagi) that is split open, boned, skewered, grilled over charcoal and basted several times with a glaze of soy sauce, mirin and sugar. The grilled eel is laid over a bowl of hot short-grain rice, usually with some of the glaze spooned over the rice. Many versions are steamed once before grilling to soften the flesh, and the grilling and basting are what give the dish its dark, glossy surface.

Unadon is closely related to unagi no kabayaki, the same eel served as a standalone dish without rice, and to unaju, where the eel is served in a lacquered box. The difference is the bowl of rice underneath. Chicken and egg donburi (oyakodon) and beef donburi (gyudon) are other rice bowls with a sweet soy sauce, but they use poultry or beef and are not made with eel.

How it's served

• Served hot in a deep lidded bowl, usually with the grilled eel laid over the rice in an overlapping layer.
• Eaten with chopsticks, often with a little of the extra glaze poured over the rice.
• Commonly accompanied by a bowl of miso soup and a few pieces of pickles on the side.
• Japanese pepper (sansho) or a little green sansho leaf is often offered as a garnish.

How to write it on the menu

• Name the main ingredient as freshwater eel (unagi) and the glaze as sweet soy, so guests know it is not a sea eel or a plain rice bowl.
• Flag allergens: the glaze contains soy sauce and wheat, and the rice bowl may be served with miso soup containing soy and wheat-based ingredients.
• State whether the eel is grilled once or steamed then grilled, and whether the rice is plain or has the glaze mixed in.
• Common variants include a larger portion (jumbo unadon) and a version with the eel served in a separate lacquered box, which should be named as such.