Rossini Unadon

 

Unadon (鰻丼) is a dish originating in Japan that has steamed white rice, topped with eel fillets that have been charcoal-grilled kabayaki preparations. The tare is the sauce and is usually known as a kabayaki sauce that is both sweet and savory sauce that is used to glaze the meat, which is a soy-based sauce. Every region has a style they are known for and when it comes to the Chubu-region they are known for Mabushi that is said to have originated in Nagoya Prefecture as Hitsumabushi (ひつまぶし), so Niigata is likely to have Mabushi as an option or special at some restaurants. Many of the restaurants that can be found to serve Unagi tend to be in the areas of: Niigata City, Nagaoka, and Sanjo. There are several known places that people go for Unagi, such as Unagi Kappo Kihachi, Ryotei Isshime, Kinjito, Naruse Unagi, Suzu no Oto. For those seeking out dishes there are a few terms to take note of, such as: Kabayaki (roasted with tare sauce), Shirayaki (roasted without tare-sauce), Mabushi (scattered or mix).

In Niigata, there is no food culture that is widely known for eating eel, and there are few restaurants that haven't gotten their knowledge from Shizuoka, Aichi, and other Eel Restaurants in larger cities. The process that has gotten people to enjoy eel in Niigata is from what's called the "Three Fresh": Freshly Steamed, Freshly Grilled, Freshly Cooked.

Mabushi Umakidon A Dish that has gotten popular is called "Umaki" that is a rolled-omelet made with a core of unagi and is eaten in a crumbled manner. Some say that Umaki Donburi is a sort of "Mabushi Umakidon", but that is debated amongst donburi lovers. The Tamago that is made with white-grilled eel has its own following from those who really enjoy Tamagoyaki and that is part of its appeal to two groups. 

Agano City, when looking for unique takes on eel there is a place in particular that would benefit from Niigata Eel variations and that would be the area of Agano. It is home to the Agano Yume Eel farm, which is known as a great eel farm in Niigata Prefecture. The appeal of white-grilled eel is that it is separate in its meat from a tare, because when white-eel is dipped and grilled to caramelized the flavor changes. When a eel is grilled and a sauce is served on top the white-ness is preserved, so a distinctive sauce can make all the difference. Minami-ku in Niigata City is known as the Fruit Kingdom and has brought people to be interested in a particular grilling-sauce that is both sweet and salty and uses plums. and placing it on Niigata rice. It is eaten as a unadon that originated in Niigata City, where the need to eat something on the hottest day of summer “Doyo no Ushi no hi” to have a less chance of suffering from heat exhaustion. 

Rossini Unadon, it is said in 2020 a dish made by Tsubame-sanjo Italia Bit was inspired by Tomiyama Farms (Minami-ku, Shirone) from growing the worlds Largest Plums according to Guinness World Records. The dish was called the U.N.G and had rossini, chestnuts, and foie gras, with a plum sauce. It follows many rules of a typical Rossini, as it uses brushed fat, a sort of pate meat paste, thin-slices of garnish, and finished with a sauce. The plums were sourced from Yoshiyuki Tomiyama who was admired online as “The Ikemen Plum Farmer”. The original dish was made as a cooking challenge from the farm to the owner of Niigata branch Bit and was made in limited quantities at their restaurant location for 2200 yen.