Photo by Keiko Oikawa

Faux Unagi - Herring Kabayaki Style

Eel (unagi) is a very popular fish, both for sushi and as a street snack, usually grilled and basted in lovely sticky kabayaki sauce. Unfortunately, the European eel population is on the brink of collapse due to over fishing of glass eels to supplying eel farms feeding the global demand for unagi. Until the eel population stabilizes, I like to play around with alternatives. In this recipe I use herring which I find similar to eels, with a fatty, meaty texture, albeit they are a sea fish whereas the mature eel spends its mature life in freshwater river systems.

Over a decade ago I had the pleasure of spending a crisp spring evening elver fishing on the River Severn with Dai Frances and Richard Cook from Severn and Wye and who are working with the Sustainable Eel Group. There has for over a decade been a program in place to ensure the annual elver fishing events is done sustainably and journalist Claire Haregreaves and myself spend a magical night learning first hand the tradition of elver fishing. Later I was invited to participate in Severn and Wye’s annual eel event releasing 10’000 fingerling eels into Llangorse Lake at Breacon Beacons.

Global herring population suffered terrible in the seventies with the fishery collapsing, but through better management and the MSC certification scheme now making herring one of the largest sustainable fisheries globally 5 decades on. Traditionally herring is mostly eaten cured and pickled, as has been tradition for over a thousand years. This method was originally born out of necessity, as a way preserving the highly nutritious fatty fish; it is now a specialty food, albeit eaten all year around, herring does have a specific meaning around the festive season in the Nordics. One tricky part about herring is an additional set of bones not visible to the naked eye; these normally soften through the traditional pickle, so you would not notice them, but is near impossible serving this fish sashimi-style.

First time I had the real unagi it was as street food near Ginza in Tokyo and it was heavenly. This version with herring is equally delicious and can also be served on Japanese rice with extra sauce, finely chopped onion and sesame seeds for a Faux Unagi Don.

I suggest you ask your fishmonger to butterfly fillet the herring so all the large bones are removed. Do not worry about the smaller bones as these will soften through the grilling.

Binchotan coal give a pure grilling, it is a penetrating infrared heat reaching above up to 600 degrees C. Its recommended to use schichirin or yakitori grill for binchotan coals as they are designed for this level of heat. Or alternatively for a DIY version use a standard BBQ, but place an additional BBQ griddle or a couple of foil wrapped bricks at the base of your BBQ to ensure that the high heat from the binchotan coals do not damage your grill. To start the binchotan coals use a self lighting bag of coals, ignite and then add 4 binchotan coals on top. The grill will be ready in 20-25 minutes.

Serves 4 | Makes 8

100 ml. soy sauce

4 tablespoon mirin

4 tablespoon sake

4 tablespoon brown sugar

2 teaspoon potato flour

8 medium herring

vegetable oil

16 wooden skewers soaked in cold water for 30 minutes

Making the kabayaki sauce by placing the sake, mirin, soy sauce and sugar in a saucepan over a gentle heat. Keep stirring the mixture until sugar is melted and the alcohol has evaporated. Mix the potato in a little cold water, add a little at the time to the sauce, and continue to cook until you have a thick, sticky sauce, similar to runny honey. Set aside.

To prepare the herring cut each butterflied fillet across the width of the fillet into 2 blocks, so you have two equal-sized half fillets per portion. Now skewer two of the half fillets with two skewers each, and repeat until you have eight portions.

When the robata grill is ready; place the herring skewers across the robata pit and fry for a minute or so on each side, just to seal and take on colour. If grilling over a grid ensure that the grid is lightly oiled before placing herring on top. Baste the herring with the kabayaki sauce , rotating repeatedly and continuing to baste until you start to build up a nice caramelization on the fish. When done stack high and serve with a Japanese slaw or pickles.