We most often encounter grilled eel fresh in Japan, but it’s also found in vacuum sealed bags for the home cook or in heat-and-serve packages for those travelling, mountaineering, camping or on picnics. This here is Hamashin Grilled Eel, an example of the latter.
The eel is ready-to-eat straight from the packaging if desired, but it can be warmed up by heating the sealed pouch in hot water for 2-3 minutes or microwaving after removing from the pouch. There are sachets of soy sauce and sansho pepper included. Sansho pepper is a standard spice for sprinkling on grilled eel.
We expected the eel to look like the caramelised and grilled perfection gracing the front of the packaging, so were surprised to pour the contents out and find something that looked more like canned fish.
Served with short grain rice, the eel tastes much like how we’d expect Japanese ‘canned’ eel would: flavoured with soy sauce and mirin, and far better than canned tuna or salmon but far worse than a freshly grilled eel. The broken texture of the eel mixes well with the rice for an easy-to-eat meal without the ‘squeakiness’ that characterises canned tuna or salmon, while the addition of the sansho pepper brought a citrusy fragrance to the dish without overpowering the flavour of the eel. Despite its tastier profile, this eel is sold at a premium compared to canned tuna or salmon, so we’re unlikely to eat this regularly.
This Hamashin Grilled Eel contained 90 g. It was produced in Japan and gifted by friends visiting Tōkyō, Japan in 2017.