They Gather Here

"Indeed."

"Let's settle for the next best thing and eat farmed ones."

Finally a consensus was reached.

Luo Zhen nodded and said, "Under the snow, it's time to show your feminine side."

With that said, he put the eel on the cutting board and pushed it over.

"Huh?" Yukinoshita was a little confused.

"Water to thaw, then remove the bones."

"..."

"quick!"

"Good for you."

Yukinoshita said these words almost through gritted teeth.

She thaws the eels under running water, and it's done in 15 minutes.

Next is the deboning.

Yukinoshita put the eel on the cutting board, fixed the head with a small kitchen knife, then made a cross-cut under the head, and slowly moved the knife down along the spine of the fish to the tail.

In the past, she didn't like to handle fishy ingredients, but today she has a sick pleasure.

So she adopted a relatively troublesome technique——

Straight to the bone.

In other words, the bones are removed without cutting the fish completely.

It was a labor-intensive job, but when Yukinoshita wiped his sweat and separated the fish from the bone completely, he felt a sense of accomplishment.

"Feeling better?" Luo Zhen asked.

"It's much better." She replied cheerfully, "I feel better."

Chapter 9 Visitors and Unagi Rice (End)

The eels are not finished yet.

Because there are still small, thin, and small thorns, Yukinoshita only continued to clean them with tweezers.

Luo Zhen took the four rows of fish bones and came to the stove.

Unagi rice, a dish that the Neon people have developed to the extreme, it is difficult for the most imaginative people to improve.

Therefore, he can only choose a method that is close to "stealing rape and playing tricks"——

Innovative side dishes.

The ones that come to mind are crispy fried fish bones and grilled eel liver.

Luo Zhen dried the fish bones, then picked up the scissors, cut them into small pieces along the direction, added shredded ginger, cooking wine, salt, and thick soy sauce, mixed well, and started to marinate.

The waiting time cannot be wasted.

He took the eel liver, washed it, dried it with kitchen paper, cut it into small pieces, added thick soy sauce, pepper, rosemary, garlic powder, covered it with plastic wrap and put it in the refrigerator to marinate.

Once again caught in the embarrassing situation of waiting.

So, Luo Zhen went over to Xueshita to watch her progress.

Pulling thorns is a patient job.

Yukinoshita pulled out one by one vigorously, squinting his eyes slightly like a cat, and only needed a magnifying glass.

"Under the snow, there's no need to be so careful." Luo Zhen whispered, "The real eel rice will always have thorns."

This is unavoidable even for the oldest establishments and the most seasoned chefs.

Although the eel has been deboned, there are still some small spines left in the meat due to the high complexity of the processing.

When I eat, I occasionally get stuck in my throat, which is very uncomfortable, but once I get used to it, I don't think there is anything wrong with it.

It's a weird neon tradition, too.

Yushita is from Chiba, where there are abundant aquatic products (fresh water and sea water are abundant), of course they are aware of this, but they still stubbornly try to pull out as much as possible.

"Hasn't it been dealt with?" She whispered, "You should do it first."

"Okay." Luo Zhen reluctantly agreed.

He puts the eel in the steamer while making the BBQ sauce—

Mirin, honey, sugar, salt, sansho pepper powder, thick soy sauce, sweet miso, stir well.

Next, Luo Zhen took out the original charcoal in the lower layer of the oven and added bincho charcoal.

After these steps, the eel was already steamed, so he put on the bamboo sticks, lit the fire, and started roasting.

Soon, Binchotan's advantages came into play.

Because the ready-made oak, which is the official tree of Wakayama, is used as the raw material, the charcoal fire is strong and stable enough, so that the real taste can be roasted.

Luo Zhen poked the fire with a fan while flipping and pouring the sauce.

As the so-called "slow work produces meticulous work", unlike grilling all kinds of meat skewers, eel must be grilled carefully to be perfect, which is why Luo Zhen tries not to provide eel in izakaya.

As far as he knows, all eel masters have to work hard every day under heavy smoke, and there are even precedents where they were blinded by the smoke.

There is no way, although almost all eels are farmed now, but the eel shop is famous for its reputation. The masters must strive for perfection, and it takes at least five years to as many as ten years to learn the essence of roasting. There is no possibility of being lazy, and it all depends on kung fu.

To be honest, this is already a bit morbid.

But not without equivalent rewards—

In the case of non-chain operation, other restaurants are not as long as eel restaurants, only it can be passed down from generation to generation.

Therefore, if you see an old eel shop, you will not be disappointed when you walk in.

Like one or two now.

The rich aroma swirls in the izakaya, accompanied by the sound of "flashing" of the flame, which stimulates the appetite of others.

Luo Zhen could clearly hear the sound of swallowing saliva.

almost!

He brought a rectangular lacquer food box, the traditional utensil for serving eels.

Then, a layer of rice, topped with sauce, a layer of eel, another layer of rice, and finally the fattest fish on the top layer.

This method has two layers of eels, hence the name "chóng".

Next came the side dishes.

First, crispy fried fish bones.

Take out the marinated fish bones, dip them in flour, then put enough oil in the pot, heat up, put in the fish bones and deep-fry slowly over low heat until golden brown, remove, control the oil, and sprinkle with pepper and salt powder.

Next, grilled eel liver.

Bring to a simmer, then sprinkle with sesame seeds and crushed chili.

Again, clear soup.

Finally, kimchi topped with soy sauce.

Eel rice, you're done!

Luo Zhen did this and made four portions repeatedly. The only pity was that only four eels could produce one portion of roasted liver, so they could only be eaten separately.

"Let's try it." He put four eel meals on the table, "It took a whole hour and a half."

indeed!

All waiting anxiously!

Although they all wanted to eat, but out of politeness, everyone still cast their eyes on Sayuri Sawamura.

So Sayuri Sawamura said in a low voice, "I'm starting~" and lifted up her chopsticks first.

She inserted the chopsticks into the rice, and with force, picked up a piece of eel and rice and put it into her mouth, then chewed slowly and savored it carefully.

So fat!

Eating eels is of course fattening.

Especially the layer of skin, which is extremely crispy and can make the subcutaneous fat more sweet.

This kind of situation usually only occurs on wild eels. No matter how fat the farmed eels are, they will not be much fatter, and no matter how fragrant they are, they are not as fragrant as wild eels.

How did Luo really do it?

With this doubt, Sayuri Sawamura took another sip.

It still has a full and plump taste, but this time, she has learned some tricks.

Luozhen does not use red sansho pepper, so it will not feel very spicy and has a tangy aroma.

He used sansan pepper powder, which was weird at first, and tasted a bit like soap.

This is due to the inclusion of...

"Is it white sugar?" Sayuri Sawamura asked curiously, "It feels a bit sweet."

"It does contain white sugar, but it also adds a little bit of sweet miso." Luo Zhen raised his little finger to show that the amount is small, "This is the secret to making the eels plump."

Originally, even with the high heat of the burner, it is difficult to make the fish skin crispy to this extent, but because the sauce contains enough sugar, it can make it easier to burn.

In short, complement each other -

Crispy ones are crispier and fatter ones are fattier.

"It's really indescribably delicious." Sayuri Sawamura sighed.

Hearing this, the rest of the people swallowed louder.

She smiled "Puff!" and said, "You all have dinner", then waved to Yukinoshita and said, "Yukishita, you come too."