Unagi no yanagawa-fu donburi / grilled eel with gobo burdock root and egg on rice, with sansho leaves

Grilled unagi, gobo burdock root and egg go wonderfully well together, making a savory, filling rice bowl.

<Ingredients>

10 cm unagi no kabayaki grilled eel
10-15 cm gobo burdock root
1 egg
150-200 cc dashi
1 tbsp sake
1-2 tsp soy sauce
Several sansho leaves


<Directions>
1.

Sasagaki slice gobo and soak in water.
Cut unagi into small pieces.
Lightly beat egg.

2.

In a pot, put dashi, sake and gobo, and bring to boil.
Cook on medium-low heat until gobo is tender, for about 10 minutes.

3.

Add soy sauce and unagi, and cook for a few minutes.

When liquid is boiled down to where it thinly covers the bottom, taste and add soy sauce if necessary.

4.

Swirl in lightly beaten egg.

Cover, and turn off heat. Remaining heat will cook egg.

5.

When egg is done, spoon over steamed rice, garnish with sansho leaves, and serve immediately.

<Notes>

• When dashi level goes down faster than desired, reduce heat or add water.
• Because of the strong flavor of grilled eel with kabayaki sauce, use less soy sauce than with other donburi dishes.
• If sansho leaves are not available, ground sansho works great. Other green garnish such as thinly sliced green onions, chives, or kaiware daikon radish sprouts would be good, too.
• Yanagawa-fu is a dish with gobo burdock root and meat/fish cooked in broth and finished by swirling in beaten egg. It is a main dish, and when placed on plain steamed rice, it becomes yanagawa-fu donburi.