The dog days of summer will soon be upon us, and panting hard on their heels comes the annual unagi feeding frenzy. Across the length and breadth of the country, vast numbers of slithering eels will be slaughtered, filleted, broiled and basted, all in the name of hallowed tradition.
There is, of course, no science to back the belief that eating eel on the Day of the Ox that falls during the doyo period of early summer -- this year on July 23 -- is extra efficacious. What started as an inspired P.R. campaign during Edo times soon became an ingrained article of faith and is now a media-perpetuated custom.
But no matter what the reason or time of year, we need no encouragement to seek out good unagi. After all, it is one of the unsung delicacies of Japanese cuisine -- especially when broiled and seasoned in the style known as kabayaki. The only reason why this succulent food is not accorded greater respect is because most eel houses are simple places, often smoky and scruffy, that purveyno-nonsense shitamachi values, notuptown refinement.