Sushi - The Lavender Tub Way - Eel Sauce

I think everyone who loves sushi would agree that the sauce is one of the best parts.  There are so many delicious sauces, but one of the most popular and versatile is called eel sauce.  While I knew I loved the taste, I can't tell you how relieved I was to learn that a person doesn't have to go hunt down eels to make it.  I'm not sure why it is called eel sauce - unless it is to be served on eel - because it doesn't have eel, or fish, or any unusual ingredients at all.  What a relief!

For eel sauce, you simply combine equal parts of these 3 ingredients (I usually use 1 cup of each):

  White sugar, wine, and soy sauce (see, no eels).

The official recipe calls for Japanese wine, but I use white cooking wine with great results.  Because the cooking wine has salt added, I use the low sodium soy sauce to compensate.   

To make the sauce:

Combine the ingredients in a sauce pan, stir well

Turn the heat to medium - high

Cook until the sauce reduces by about 1/2, stirring frequently

This takes about 20 minutes, but will vary with the size pan you use and with the amount of ingredients.  You want the sauce to coat a spoon and be about of the consistency of a thinner pancake syrup.  Just remember it will thicken a bit as it cools.

That's it!  I like to make the larger batch (1 cup of each ingredient) because it makes a great base for teriyaki sauce and some PF Chang type sauces.  It is a nice sauce to keep on hand.

 Yum!!!!!

So, eels of the world relax!  You're safe at The Lavender Tub!  To learn how to make a sushi roll, go to my tutorial here.

Thanks for stopping by,

Ellie