I used to get Japanese-style broiled eel fairly
regularly. It comes as a frozen filet in a sauce
similar or teriyaki. When steamed, it becomes
very gelatinous -- really wonderful stuff.

I hadn't looked at it for a few years. Just the
other day, I looked for it and the price was a shock!
It used to be that there were big ones and little
ones. I think the little ones were 5 oz and $3.99,
while the big ones were 9 oz and $8.99. Now, only
the big ones are available, and they're $15.99 on
sale, normally $16.99. They are farmed fish and
come from China.

Whoa! What happened that made the price shoot up?
I can only guess that something caused the supply
to go down and now the Japanese are buying them all.
I suppose in a few years they won't be available here
at all.

On 5/6/2012 7:15 PM, Mark Thorson wrote:
> I used to get Japanese-style broiled eel fairly
> regularly. It comes as a frozen filet in a sauce
> similar or teriyaki. When steamed, it becomes
> very gelatinous -- really wonderful stuff.
>
> I hadn't looked at it for a few years. Just the
> other day, I looked for it and the price was a shock!
> It used to be that there were big ones and little
> ones. I think the little ones were 5 oz and $3.99,
> while the big ones were 9 oz and $8.99. Now, only
> the big ones are available, and they're $15.99 on
> sale, normally $16.99. They are farmed fish and
> come from China.
>
> Whoa! What happened that made the price shoot up?
> I can only guess that something caused the supply
> to go down and now the Japanese are buying them all.
> I suppose in a few years they won't be available here
> at all.

I noticed the same thing concerning the price. I never tried steaming
it. I go with the traditional grilled method pretty that mimics what you
get in a Japanese restaurant much like this:

http://www.livestrong.com/article/54...-frozen-unagi/

When I was a kid smoking (American) eels caught in the Delaware river
was a common thing.

Fourth picture down:

http://www.deepcraft.org/deep/archives/date/2009/06

When I went to Japan it was a natural to eat them there. From what I
understand the American eel is nearly wiped out. According to this
article it is because of Japanese consumption:

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/25/op...k.html?_r=2&hp

On 2012-05-06 23:15:16 +0000, Mark Thorson said:

> Whoa! What happened that made the price shoot up?
> I can only guess that something caused the supply
> to go down and now the Japanese are buying them all.
> I suppose in a few years they won't be available here
> at all.

I don't know when you got good prices and when you got bad. Ending 6-7
years ago we vacationed every year around Japan. It was a pretty good
value at 120 yen to the dollar. For a good long while it has been not
been a good value. The yen is now trading ~80 to the dollar. Then
there is the petrol cost of transport. That's at least two factors.

I'm not sure that the changing "normal" in markup (aka culturally
inculcated justification for greed) might not constitute another.

Come to think of it I read about some eel shortages a couple of months
ago in the nytimes. I'm not sure if that relates to the unage you're
likely speaking of.
--
I do not feel obligated to believe that the same God who has endowed us
with sense, reason, and intellect has intended us to forego their use.
-- Galileo

On 2012-05-07 00:15:28 +0000, George said:

> When I went to Japan it was a natural to eat them there. From what I
> understand the American eel is nearly wiped out. According to this
> article it is because of Japanese consumption:
>
> http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/25/op...k.html?_r=2&hp

I've seen another article more recently about eel shortages but again,
I'm not sure it relates to the kind of Japanese broiled eel with a
sweet sauce we usually think of.
--
I do not feel obligated to believe that the same God who has endowed us
with sense, reason, and intellect has intended us to forego their use.
-- Galileo

On May 6, 7:15*pm, Mark Thorson > wrote:


> I hadn't looked at it for a few years.

<snipped>

> Whoa! *What happened that made the price shoot up?
> I can only guess that something caused the supply
> to go down and now the Japanese are buying them all.
> I suppose in a few years they won't be available here
> at all.


The price of a lot of things goes up and I'll bet everyone in
some way is responsible for it, even you. You say you haven't look at
the stuff in years. Maybe if you had bought more of it the price
wouldn't have gone up. Maybe your absence from eel eating has caused
the price to skyrocket.

Stop blaming the foreigners,
TJ

On 5/6/2012 8:55 PM, gtr wrote:
> On 2012-05-07 00:15:28 +0000, George said:
>
>> When I went to Japan it was a natural to eat them there. From what I
>> understand the American eel is nearly wiped out. According to this
>> article it is because of Japanese consumption:
>>
>> http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/25/op...k.html?_r=2&hp
>
> I've seen another article more recently about eel shortages but again,
> I'm not sure it relates to the kind of Japanese broiled eel with a sweet
> sauce we usually think of.

The American eel is very similar to the Japanese fresh water eel (unagi).

The interesting part is that the writer claimed the young eels were
being caught at the mouth of rivers and then taken to China to be farm
raised. If you do that long enough it isn't hard to see how you could
wipe out the eel population in rivers.

Mark Thorson wrote:
> I used to get Japanese-style broiled eel fairly
> regularly. It comes as a frozen filet in a sauce
> similar or teriyaki. When steamed, it becomes
> very gelatinous -- really wonderful stuff.
>
> I hadn't looked at it for a few years. Just the
> other day, I looked for it and the price was a shock!
> It used to be that there were big ones and little
> ones. I think the little ones were 5 oz and $3.99,
> while the big ones were 9 oz and $8.99. Now, only
> the big ones are available, and they're $15.99 on
> sale, normally $16.99. They are farmed fish and
> come from China.
>
> Whoa! What happened that made the price shoot up?
> I can only guess that something caused the supply
> to go down and now the Japanese are buying them all.
> I suppose in a few years they won't be available here
> at all.

Oh dear! And I sure wish I could find some that did not come from
China. Unagi is soooooo yummy.

BTW, have you ever tried making unagi fried rice? That is a nice
way to stretch the unagi.

--
Jean B.

George wrote:
> On 5/6/2012 8:55 PM, gtr wrote:
>> On 2012-05-07 00:15:28 +0000, George said:
>>
>>> When I went to Japan it was a natural to eat them there. From what I
>>> understand the American eel is nearly wiped out. According to this
>>> article it is because of Japanese consumption:
>>>
>>> http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/25/op...k.html?_r=2&hp
>>
>> I've seen another article more recently about eel shortages but again,
>> I'm not sure it relates to the kind of Japanese broiled eel with a sweet
>> sauce we usually think of.
>
> The American eel is very similar to the Japanese fresh water eel (unagi).
>
> The interesting part is that the writer claimed the young eels were
> being caught at the mouth of rivers and then taken to China to be farm
> raised. If you do that long enough it isn't hard to see how you could
> wipe out the eel population in rivers.

Whose bright idea was that, I wonder?

--
Jean B.

On Tue, 08 May 2012 00:13:30 -0400, "Jean B." > wrote:

>George wrote:
>> On 5/6/2012 8:55 PM, gtr wrote:
>>> On 2012-05-07 00:15:28 +0000, George said:
>>>
>>>> When I went to Japan it was a natural to eat them there. From what I
>>>> understand the American eel is nearly wiped out. According to this
>>>> article it is because of Japanese consumption:
>>>>
>>>> http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/25/op...k.html?_r=2&hp
>>>
>>> I've seen another article more recently about eel shortages but again,
>>> I'm not sure it relates to the kind of Japanese broiled eel with a sweet
>>> sauce we usually think of.
>>
>> The American eel is very similar to the Japanese fresh water eel (unagi).
>>
>> The interesting part is that the writer claimed the young eels were
>> being caught at the mouth of rivers and then taken to China to be farm
>> raised. If you do that long enough it isn't hard to see how you could
>> wipe out the eel population in rivers.
>
>Whose bright idea was that, I wonder?

I don't know, but I read about the practice being employed by the
Dutch in NY in the late 1500s. Did they bring it with them or
did the natives teach them?

Jim

In article >,
says...
>
> On Tue, 08 May 2012 00:13:30 -0400, "Jean B." > wrote:
>
> >George wrote:
> >> On 5/6/2012 8:55 PM, gtr wrote:
> >>> On 2012-05-07 00:15:28 +0000, George said:
> >>>
> >>>> When I went to Japan it was a natural to eat them there. From what I
> >>>> understand the American eel is nearly wiped out. According to this
> >>>> article it is because of Japanese consumption:
> >>>>
> >>>> http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/25/op...k.html?_r=2&hp
> >>>
> >>> I've seen another article more recently about eel shortages but again,
> >>> I'm not sure it relates to the kind of Japanese broiled eel with a sweet
> >>> sauce we usually think of.
> >>
> >> The American eel is very similar to the Japanese fresh water eel (unagi).
> >>
> >> The interesting part is that the writer claimed the young eels were
> >> being caught at the mouth of rivers and then taken to China to be farm
> >> raised. If you do that long enough it isn't hard to see how you could
> >> wipe out the eel population in rivers.
> >
> >Whose bright idea was that, I wonder?
>
> I don't know, but I read about the practice being employed by the
> Dutch in NY in the late 1500s. Did they bring it with them or
> did the natives teach them?

I'm sure the Dutch took theb practice with them from Europe, where eels
are a rural delicacy. As a child in the 50's, I caught the chool bus
outside a fish shop which sold live eels in a tank; in the 60's I went
eel-trapping with my grandfather at the river outside his home, and in the
70's we used to go to the Severn at flood tide and eat delicious baby
elvers caught in it, cooked and sold on the river banks.

http://www.information-britain.co.uk...ds/Gloucester%
20elvers/

Janet UK

"Jean B." wrote:
>
> BTW, have you ever tried making unagi fried rice? That is a nice
> way to stretch the unagi.

I would put the frozen eel on top of the rice
shortly before turning off the heat to steam
both of them at the same time. Perfect
gelatinous eel on top of a bed of rice.

Mark Thorson wrote:
> "Jean B." wrote:
>> BTW, have you ever tried making unagi fried rice? That is a nice
>> way to stretch the unagi.
>
> I would put the frozen eel on top of the rice
> shortly before turning off the heat to steam
> both of them at the same time. Perfect
> gelatinous eel on top of a bed of rice.

Eel. I hope I don't start craving it at the current price. Maybe
we have some here.

--
Jean B.

On May 8, 8:11*pm, "Jean B." > wrote:



> Eel. *I hope I don't start craving it at the current price. *Maybe
> we have some here.


I came into this thread because to me the word eel sounds funny
and disgusting at the same time. I can't say I've ever eaten it.
Maybe I'd like it. But from what I've read so far I can see this is a
nostalgia-based thread, not that there's anything wrong with that. We
want to recapture our past but aren't sure if it's worth today's
prices. How about just the memory of it, how much do you want for
that? Come on now, do me right - a good strong memory to hold me over
till the real thing comes down in price or I find out I no longer want
it. Thanks.

TJ