Mitsuba and Unagi

I lied about posting the miso recipe. It hasn't happened yet. Maybe I'll do it when my eggplants are ready to eat. It's about Unaju this week.



So I found excellent Unagi on sale last week and bought tons to freeze. It's already BBQed and the sauce is included. Just that on rice is most satisfying, but even more so if you have it with a soup using the kimo (liver). But since i didn't gut the eel, instant soups - not miso, but "osui mono" which is a clearer soup using fish stock with a little bit of seaweed and chives - is the way to go. My favorite herb in that soup would be Mitsuba, though there is never enough of the flavor in the instant version.



So as a small fan of gardening and Japanese foods, I've go my basic chives and shiso of course, but this year I tried mitsuba (Cryptotaenia). They should grow like weeds, we used to have a whole bunch grow right beside the watering hose at my childhood home. It's been cold this year, but as soon as the sun came out, they sprung up in no time! Mitsuba are called Japanese parsley, and tastes somewhat similar, but it's flatter and softer, and is a good source of Vitamin C and Calcium.



So to get the maximum flavor of the mitsuba, I chopped up about 3-4 leaves including part of the stem, and left one whole for garnishing to float on top. Most satisfactory...