Martina has finally agreed to let me shoot a video on unagi.

Today, we're going to take you to one of my favorite eel places called Marushizu.

And we're gonna show you what eel is all about.

Come on! LET'S DO THIS!

[Chill Music]

Now, working with eel is not easy.

First of all, it has tons of tiny, tiny, tiny little bones.

And it's very, very delicate.

The way that they grill this is Kabayaki style.

What it means is--

They actually butterfly it.

They remove all the bones from it.

Then they skewer it.

Skewering here is the key.

And then they grill it without any sauce.

And then they steam it.

And then they burn it back again(?).

And then they add the sauce on top of that

Which kind of, like, caramelizes the sauce on top of it

With the grill

And if you wanna nerd out with me--

Ahahaha

Yaki means grilling.

But kaba, they think, means those cattails

From the ponds

Like, you know when there's a pond and there's

A cattail

And it looks like a skewed eel.

So you're grilling it like that. Get it?

There's some word knowledge for you.

Right at your face.

[Calm Music]

Mmmm. It's so soft.

And fluffy and the edges are perfectly crispy.

It has a little bit of a crunch.

But it's not overcooked in any way.

The sauce on top of it is, like, soy sauce

And mirin and sugar

And it just, like, crisps so nicely

And then the sauce goes on the rice

And then it seeps down into it, but, like, not all the way

Down to make it soggy.

Oh man, it's so good.

Aww yeah~

Mmmmm

MMMmmm

There's... the soft, tenderness on the inside.

With a nice little sticky char of sauce on top.

It's a very meaty-tasting fish.

It doesn't have a fishy taste to it.

If you think about chicken, that's the closest equivalent

That I can come up with--

And I know a lot of people don't wanna try eel

Like even the thought of it is like

"Eww~ It looks like a snake."

It's not.

It's delicious.

It's a super treat here in Japan.

You have to try this out.

[Music]

I feel like the best way to describe eel

In my heart is that it's like a chicken and a fish

Got together.

When someone says 'chicken of the sea,'

I don't think tuna. I think eel.

It's kinda like when you take a marshmallow

And you dip a marshmallow in chocolate

And it's, like, fluffy, but there's chocolate

On the outside, but the inside-- you still taste the marshmallow.

It's like a marshmallow fish.

So I've sprinkled on a sansho

It makes the edges of your tongue a little bit numb.

It's perfect for eel like this.

You know what makes me very happy?

Martina didn't really wanna shoot this video.

She's not passionate about eel.

She hasn't had REALLY good eel like this place here.

And now she has seen the light.

'Cause this is good stuff.

Just look at how beautiful this is.

This is a sexy-looking piece of fish.

You can't help but just look in, like, awe.

Awwe

So, summer time is actually the season for eel.

Most of the year, like around July to August--

We're having it right at the end of June

But if you come to Japan

Make sure that you try this in the summertime

It's wonderful, and not a lot of people talk about

How great eel is.

It's f*%#ing great.

I mean-- I love eel

[Music: 'Hallelujah']

Speaking of word knowledge that Martina had

Um

In Kafka On the Shore-- I'm not sure how many of

You have read it---

That one old character that's kind of crazy

His favorite treat is eel, and I feel the same way.

Are you the crazy character on the shore?

No, it means that I talk to cats

Umm

And then I gotta flip a stone.

Um

I'm not gonna spoil the rest of the book for you

But I talk to cats

Mmm

Mmmm

Mmm

So, the style of eel eating now is kinda the most

Common one where you have rice with sauce

And the eel on top of it.

But when we were in Nagoya, we had it served

Totally differently

They actually do a completely different process.

They serve it four different ways.

Have it as a soup. They have it with, like, wasabi.

They have it on rice.

So, just because you've had eel once in Japan

Does not mean you've had eel all the different types of ways

And I can say that that Nagoya eel was the

First time I ever said, "Wow, eel is great."

Eel is great.

And then Simon said, "Well, I'm gonna take you

To my favorite spot in Tokyo."

Because he came here, without me, with his friend.

So, even though eel season is in the summertime

That doesn't mean that it necessarily comes cheap.

There's a lot of overfishing.

And from what I've heard-- not gonna name any names

But some other countries that aren't Japan

Have been infringing on Japan's waters

And taking some of their eel

I don't know. I heard that in a food rumor mill

It could be wrong. Not sure.

Two pieces here cost 3,600 yen.

My three piece-set cost 4,300 yen.

So, it is a lot of money to spend on lunch.

It was supposedly a lot cheaper a long time ago.

But it's really, really, really, like, ridiculously delicious.

Really, really good-looking.

[Sexy Music]

So, that's it for this week's

Food Adventure Program for Awesome People(FAPFAP)

I hope we've convinced you to try eel.

It looks scary. You might think it's a snake.

It's not a snake!

Make sure you come on out and try it

When you get the chance

And we're gonna let you guys know how to

Find this place in our blog post

But it is a bit complicated

Or should we keep it secret, Ducky?

Hmmmmmmmm

Nah, we'll share it with you guys

It's new Sekuge market.

Or "Sukeegee" as everyone wants me to say it.

Sukeegee

Sukeegee