Unagi Sauce (Eel Sauce)

Unagi sauce in a bowl with unagi sushi nearby.

Sweet, salty, savory, unagi sauce, or eel sauce, adds a rich and flavorful glaze over perfectly grilled eel. This easy homemade unagi sauce recipe is made with only four ingredients.

Course Sauce

Cuisine Japanese

Keyword eel sauce, eel sauce ingredients, eel sauce recipe, homemade eel sauce, Japanese eel suace, recipe for eel sauce, unagi sauce, unagi sauce recipe

Prep Time 5

Cook Time 10

Total Time 15

Servings servings

Calories 35kcal

Author Megan

Equipment

Ingredients

⅓ cup mirin
2 tablespoon sake
3 tablespoon sugar
⅓ cup soy sauce

Instructions

Mix the sauce. In a small saucepan, add the mirin and sake over medium heat. Mix to combine. Bring to a boil and then cook for an additional 2 minutes to burn off the alcohol.
Add soy sauce and sugar. Add the soy sauce and sugar and mix to combine until the sugar dissolves. Lower the heat to medium low and gently simmer the sauce while stirring occasionally for about 10-12 minutes or until the sauce reduces by half and thickens.
Cool. Remove the sauce from the heat and let it cool. The sauce will thicken as it cools.

Notes

Heat the sake and mirin first. Heating the sake and mirin first gives it time to burn off the alcohol.
Simmer on low heat. Make sure to simmer the sauce on low heat. You want to see small bubbles only to prevent the sugar from burning and quickly turning the sauce bitter.
Refrigerate after using: if you have any leftovers, do not leave the sauce at room temperature. Refrigerate any leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator.
Storage Instructions: You can store this homemade eel sauce in an airtight jar in the refrigerator for up to 3 months.

Nutrition