Eel Sauce (Unagi Sauce) (2024)

This eel sauce recipe is the perfect combination of salty and sweet with deep umami for your favorite sushi roll. It is also great on meat, vegetables and Japanese tempura.

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Why This Recipe Works

• This sauce is quick and easy to make! 10 minutes or less.
• Incredibly versatile sauce that is great on meat, fish and vegetables, sushi rolls with fish, vegan sushi and vegetable sushi. I love a drizzle on this Tuna Sashimi and Octopus Sashimi for some extra umami!
• Amazing dip for deep fried Japanese tempura battered shrimp or vegetables – my personal favorite!

What iseel sauce?

Eel sauce is also referred to as Nitsume, Unagi or Kabayaki sauce. Making this sauce from scratch is surprisingly easy and only requires a few in ingredients. While many versions of eel sauce contain sake or Mirin (a Japanese cooking wine), this recipe makes a delicious version using more common ingredients: soy sauce, white wine and rice wine vinegar.

Does this unagi sauce taste fishy?

While this sauce is the perfect eel sauce for sushi, NO, it does not taste fishy. This is a common misconception that this sauce is made of eel. It is not. It derived its name because this sauce is commonly used in the preparation of unagi, the Japanese word for freshwater eel (eel sushi). However, this sauce is extremely versatile and is delicious on many other items including:

• Sushi (most famously the eel roll)
• Beef
• Chicken
• Grilled Vegatables
• Japanese Tempura (my favorite!)

What type of rice vinegar should I use?

You want to use seasoned rice vinegar, sometimes called rice cooking wine or rice wine vinegar. Marukan Seasoned Rice Vinegar and Nakano Seasoned Rice Vinegar are both good choices and are often found in the Asian or vinegar/salad dressing section of most grocery stores. Many grocery stores also carry a store brand version of rice vinegar (ex: target). Rice vinegar is often used as a mirin alternative.

What type of white wine should I use?

While many recipes call for mirin or sake, most any dry white wine will work. I have used chardonnay, pinot grigio or sauvignon blanc. As with most cooking, you will want to use a good quality wine (one that you would drink), as the flavor of the wine will be imparted to the sauce.

How to make this recipe

Ingredients

• ⅛cupSeasoned rice vinegar
• ⅛cup⅛ cup dry white wineChardonnay, pinot grigio or savignion blanc
• ¼cupSoy sauce (low sodium or regular)

Instructions

• Boil all ingredients for 4 to 6 minutes, stirring every 30 seconds or so.
• As the sauce begins to thicken, be sure to keep stirring so it does not burn.
• Remove from heat and pour sauce into heat safe container.
• Let cool. It will thicken as it cool. Should yield approx. ¼ cup.

Looking for other delicious Asian inspired ideas?

• Bang Bang Sauce
• Furikake Salmon
• Miso Ginger Dressing
• Asian Inspired Buddha Bowl

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