Yanagawa Seiro Mushi Eel

The line outside Yanagawa Seiro Mushi Eel, if there is one, is usually a better sign than a review score.

In Japan, the two great schools of eel preparation are unaju (grilled eel on rice, Kanto style) and seiro mushi (eel steamed with rice in a wooden box, Kyushu style). Yanagawa City, built on canals and historically dependent on freshwater fishing, developed seiro mushi into an art form. The eel is first grilled over charcoal, then placed on seasoned rice in a hinoki cedar steaming box and steamed until the rice absorbs the tare sauce.

The result is fundamentally different from Kanto eel — the flesh is more tender, the rice takes on a deep caramelized sweetness, and the box retains heat for 20 minutes. Several long-running eel restaurants along the canal district have served seiro mushi for generations. Many dining rooms overlook the canal — you eat watching pole-boats drift past.