Unagi Chazuke (Hitsumabushi) is a popular rice bowl from Nagoya, Japan of broiled eel atop steamed rice with piping hot broth poured on top. It‘s the perfect comfort food on a busy weeknight!
Unagi Chazuke (鰻茶漬け) is one of Mr. JOC’s favorite dishes. Before we were married, the only unagi dish he knew was Unagi Don (Unadon/Broiled Eel over Rice). After I introduced Unagi Chazuke to him, he loved it so much that he only requests this dish whenever we buy unagi. It’s a light and comforting dish that can be prepared easily on a busy weeknight!
The rice bowl is very alike to Hitsumabushi (櫃まぶし), a specialty dish from Nagoya prefecture. I will talk about the differences between the two in today’s post.
What is Unagi Chazuke?
As most of you already know, unagi (うなぎ or 鰻) is a freshwater eel in Japanese. Chazuke or ochazuke (お茶漬け) is a dish where green tea or dashi broth is poured over steamed rice. I have a classic Ochazuke recipe on the website if you’re interested.
So Unagi Chazuke is simply grilled or broiled unagi placed over steamed rice (which is called Unadon) and served with hot broth.
You can use either dashi or green tea for the hot broth. For today’s recipe, I used both dashi and konbucha (昆布茶), which is powdered kombu tea. The saltiness and umami from konbucha make a very delicious soup broth.
Is Unagi Chazuke Similar to Hitsumabushi?
If you have been to Nagoya, Japan, you probably had a chance to try the popular Hitsumabushi (櫃まぶし), which looks rather similar to Unagi Chazuke. There are popular Hitsumabushi restaurants everywhere in Nagoya, and some big chains have branches in the Tokyo area as well.
Let’s take a look at the differences between the two dishes.
Unagi Chazuke
- Served in a donburi (a large bowl).
- Unagi is served without cutting into smaller pieces.
- The soup broth can be green tea or dashi or sometimes a combination.
Hitsumabushi
- Originated in Nagoya.
- Served in Ohitsu (a round, wooden container to keep cooked rice).
- Unagi is cut into smaller pieces (1 cm).
- The soup broth is dashi.
- Enjoy the dish in 3 steps (Step 1 – eat only unagi and rice. Step 2 – eat with toppings and condiments (green onion, wasabi, and nori seaweed). Step 3 – pour the side broth (ochazuke) over the rice and enjoy!
Quick and Easy Weeknight Meal!
This recipe was from my mother’s where she learned it from a friend. As my parents love unagi, I grew up eating Unagi Chazuke when my mom was too busy to cook.
This recipe was my very first recipe on Just One Cookbook and was originally published on January 3rd, 2011, the third day after I started blogging. I remember we had many Western-style meals over the holidays, so it was nice to have a comforting Japanese dish again.
If you like Unadon, I hope you give this unagi dish a try next time!
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Unagi Chazuke (Hitsumabushi)
Ingredients
For the Broth
- 2 cups dashi (Japanese soup stock) (use standard Awase Dashi, dashi packet or powder, or Vegan Dashi)
- 2 tsp kobucha (kombucha)
For the Unagi Donburi
- 1 fillet unagi (freshwater eel) fillet (precooked; 5.6 oz or 160 g)
- 2–3 Tbsp unagi (eel) sauce (you can make my homemade Unagi Sauce)
- 2 servings cooked Japanese short-grain rice (typically 1⅔ cups (250 g) per donburi serving)
For the Garnish
- 1 green onion/scallion (optional)
- 1 sprig mitsuba (Japanese parsley) (optional)
- 1 tsp toasted white sesame seeds
- Japanese sansho pepper (optional)
Instructions
- Gather all the ingredients. For the steamed rice, please note that 1½ cups (300 g, 2 rice cooker cups) of uncooked Japanese short-grain rice yield 4⅓ cups (660 g) of cooked rice, enough for 2 donburi servings (3⅓ cups, 500 g). See how to cook short-grain rice with a rice cooker, pot over the stove, Instant Pot, or donabe.
To Make the Broth
- In a small saucepan, combine 2 cups dashi (Japanese soup stock) and 2 tsp kobucha (kombucha).
- Heat the broth over medium heat and whisk well. Taste the broth and adjust with more konbucha or salt if necessary.
To Prepare the Unagi
- Cut 1 fillet unagi (freshwater eel) fillet in half (or maybe thirds) to fit inside your serving bowls.
- Line the baking sheet with parchment paper. Place the unagi on top. WITHOUT preheating, put the baking sheet in the middle rack of your oven, and broil on high for 7 minutes (no need to flip).
- After 7 minutes or so, take it out and brush some of the 2–3 Tbsp unagi (eel) sauce over the fillets. Broil for another 30 to 60 seconds until you see bubbles on top of the unagi.
To Serve
- Cut 1 sprig mitsuba (Japanese parsley) and 1 green onion/scallion into small pieces.
- Serve 2 servings cooked Japanese short-grain rice in individual donburi (large) bowls. Brush some unagi sauce on the rice. Place the broiled unagi on top. Optionally, you can cut the unagi into 1-inch pieces (easier to eat with chopsticks). Pour or brush more unagi sauce on the eel, if you‘d like.
- Right before you serve, pour the broth over the unagi and garnish with the chopped green onions, mitsuba, and 1 tsp toasted white sesame seeds. You can sprinkle with Japanese sansho pepper to add a peppery, citrus flavor. Enjoy!
Notes
Nutrition
Editor’s Note: The post was originally published on January 3, 2011. The images have been updated in January 2020.
I made this for breakfast just now and it was magical! The combination is so well balanced and not too heavy to have in the morning. Loved it
Hi Ruslan, We are so happy to hear you enjoyed Unagi Chazuke!
Thank you very much for trying Nami’s recipe and for your kind feedback!🙂
Is it a good idea to eat leftover unagi?i don’t wanna get sick for eating it -.-
Hi Aralynn, If you keep it in the refrigerator, the following day should be good.
We don’t recommend keeping it for more than two days and won’t recommend freezing it either. 🙂
We hope this helps!
Hi Nami,
What kind of grilled unagi do you use– what is it called? Is it in the refrigerated or frozen food section?
The employee at my local Nijiya directed me to unagi kabayaki. She said it would be ok to use with this recipe. It already had sauce on it so I decided not to add any unagi sauce. It had a nice smokey flavor. I want to make the recipe again using the “right” unagi.
Hi Diane, Here in California, we can hardly get fresh Unagi, so Nami also purchases the one in vacuumed sealed packages.
Here is the link where Nami explains more about Unagi: https://www.justonecookbook.com/unagi-fresh-water-eel/
Following Nami’s recipe as broil and add homemade sauce and broil again to enhance more flavor for this recipe, even the Unagi come with the unagi sauce is the best way to enjoy this dish! We hope this is helpful.
Namiii, I just saw SJ Return II in VLive… They ate this dish in Nagoya and I came straight to your website to find the recipe! THANK YOUUU! Looking forward to cook this in the weekend! 🙂
Hi Gita! I’m glad I have the recipe. 🙂 It’s very easy to make, and I hope you enjoy this recipe!
Unagi tastes so strong, when I smelled it first I got scared but I already made that recipe twice in a week now haha
Thanks for this recipe once again !
Hi Jin-chan! So happy to hear that you liked this recipe. It’s easy and comforting… Glad to hear the smell didn’t bother when you eat – I only can recognize “good smell”… LOL. 🙂
Is it a good idea to refrigerate leftover unagi? It’s just me that will be eating this and if I make a lot at once, I’ll take it as a personal challenge to eat it all if I make a batch that’s too much and can’t be refrigerated afterwards.
Hi Flantashia! Yes, you can refrigerate to keep it for the following day. I won’t keep it for more than 2 days though. Since you are most likely defrost unagi to eat it, I won’t recommend to re-freeze it. 🙂