Unagi & Doyo-no-ushinohi -Eel day うなぎと土用の丑の日

　There are so many good and interesting things in Japan, but probably you don't know much about them if you cannot speak or read Japanese easily. I will give you tidbits of information on Japanese custom,life and food.

You may find of the nice smell of Kabayaki ( 蒲焼 かばやき ) eel ( Unagi, 鰻 うなぎ)　 in supermarkets these days. Why especially this time of year ? Apparently, there is some mysterious Japan power that came from the humid Japanese summer and it is connected to eels. I will tell you a tidbit about Unagi story today.

What’s ‘Doyo-no-ushinohi’?

There is a traditional Chinese philosophy, which is called Gogyo 五行. We used to use this idea for the name of a season as well. Doyo 土用 means the end of each season and there are four Doyo in a year. On this calendar, we call the just beginning of each season, Rittshun立春 ・Rittka立夏 ・立秋 Rittshu ・立冬 Ritto . Doyo 土用 is 18-19 days before the beginning of each season. So Doyo day is slightly different each year because the calendar is based on the Sun’s path. We call the summer’s Doyo-no-ushinohi, ‘Doyo-no-ushinohi’ in general. The Doyo of this year (2007) is from 20 July to 7 Aug and Ushinohi is 30 Jul. Doyo-no-ushinohi is the busiest day of the year for eel restaurants.

Why ‘Eel’ (Unagi) ? -Eal story-

There was a famous old story about an eel on Doyo. One eel-selling owner had a hard time for business and he asked to a famous physician ( pharmacologist , author, painter and inventor ) Gennai Hiraga how to manage his situation. Hiraga suggested that eel seller put a sigh in front of his shop. The sign read: ‘Today is Ushinohi’ This advice was given because there was a old saying ‘If you eat some foods whose name starts with ‘U’, you will overcome very hot summer.’ The eel selling owner followed this advice and the eel seller prospered.

Kabayaki & Shirayaki

The famous cooking style for eel is Kabayaki where the eel is grilled and coated with a kind of teriyaki sauce.
Cooking process depends on the area of Japan you are in.
One example is : cutting →skewering →steaming →grilling →putting sauce →grilling →putting sauce→grilling→putting sauce→grilling.
Kabayaki is popular, but there is Shirayaki 白焼where the eel is grilled without sauce and the color is white. On this eel, you can add with any flavorings you wish.

Nutrition

Eel has high nutritional value. It’s high in vitamin A, B1,B2, D, E, DHA and EPA.
About vitamin A, there are two types of vitamin A, one is retinol and another is β-carotene. β-carotene change to vitamin A in the body, but absorption rate is 30 percent only. Eel includes retinol which works as vitamin A completely and it’s higher nutritious thanβ-carotene. Vitamin A is good for eyes, skin, mucosa and immune system. Vitamin B1 is used on process producing energy from glucose and it’s good for tiredness. Vitamin B2 is good for the skin and it works on the conversion process from lipids. Vitamin D is an important for calcium absorption and Vitamin E is famous as anti-oxidant. DHA (Docosahexaenoic acid) and EPA(Eicosapentaenoic acid) are unsaturated fatty acids , known as Omega-3 fat , most often found in fish oil, young yellowtail, saury, tuna, sardine, etc. They have been shown to benefit people suffering from diseases such as heart disease, stroke, cholesterol, brain, cancer, allergy, Alzheimer’s disease, rheumatoid arthritis, etc.


Eel is very healthy foods and good for your energy level. Have a eel dinner and brace yourself against summer’s heat and humidity !!