Unagi Sushi Recipe

Unagi Sushi Rolls are filled with bbq eel, crunchy cucumber, then rolled in nori seaweed sheet and sushi rice! I like to drizzle it with delicious unagi sauce for an extra flavor.

Prep Time10

Cook Time50

Total Time1

Course: Dinner, Lunch, Main Course

Cuisine: Japanese

Keyword: Eel Sushi, Unagi Roll, Unagi Sushi

Servings: pieces (3 rolls)

Author: Izzy

Equipment

Ingredients

For Sushi Rice

1 cup sushi rice short-grain sushi rice
1 cup water
1 ½ tablespoons sushi vinegar (or mix 1 tablespoon rice vinegar, 1/2 tablespoon sugar, and 1/2 teaspoon salt )

For Unagi Sushi

4 oz unagi (you can also use canned unagi)
1/2 cucumber cut into ½-inch strips
2 sheets nori seaweed
2 green onions
sesame seeds

Instructions

Make Sushi Rice:

Rinse the rice and add it to the rice cooker. Then add water. Cook the rice in a rice cooker or according to package instructions.
Once cooked, transfer to a large bowl and let it cool down slightly. When it’s still very warm, mix in the sushi vinegar (or the mixture of rice vinegar, sugar and salt).

Cook Unagi:

Take the unagi from the package and bake at 360F for 10-12 minutes or according to the package instruction. Then cut it into ½-inch strips.

Make Unagi Sushi Roll:

Lay out the bamboo mat with a piece of plastic wrap on top (this will make clean up easier and prevent rice from sticking to the bamboo).
Fold the nori sheets in half and split them using a pair of scissors.
Place half of the nori sheet on top of the bamboo shining side facing down.
Evenly spread rice (about 3/4 cup) over nori. And sprinkle sesame seeds. (You can dip your hands into Tezu water* to prevent from sticking.)
Then flip the sheet and add unagi slices and cucumber, green onions (or any other fillings such as avocado) to the middle of the nori sheet.
Place the thumbs underneath the bamboo mat and lift the edge up and over the filling. Roll the bamboo mat away from you and press the rice and filling together. Keep rolling until the ends meet.
Cut each roll into 8 pieces.
Drizzle unagi sauce on top of the roll for some extra delicious flavor. Serve and enjoy immediately.

Notes

*To Make Tezu water: Mix together 1/4 cup water and 2 teaspoon rice vinegar.
Avoid putting hot sushi rice in the fridge to cool down as this will affect the taste and texture.
Why does my sushi roll fall apart? This could be caused by the wrong types of rice you use or you didn’t squeeze the rolls tightly enough. You need to tuck in and pull the bamboo mat while rolling.

Nutrition