Japanese eel is so precious it’s called ‘white gold’, but its value on the black market has made it an endangered species, and scientists still don’t know how it breeds
- Eaten worldwide, eel is particularly popular in Japan, where it’s prepared ‘kabayaki’ style: skewered, grilled and basted in soy sauce and mirin rice wine
- But wild eel stocks are dwindling because of pollution and overfishing, and poaching and international trafficking are also having a major impact
Tsuyoshi Hachisuka gently places skewered eel on a grill, preparing a much-loved Japanese delicacy that is now so endangered it commands eye-watering prices and the attention of international traffickers.
Consumed worldwide, eel is particularly popular in Asia, and perhaps nowhere more so than Japan, where remains found in tombs show it has been eaten on the archipelago for thousands of years.
Despite its enduring popularity, much about the eel remains a mystery. Precisely how it reproduces is unclear, and coaxing it to do so in captivity without intervention has proved unsuccessful so far.
Pressures on wild stocks, ranging from pollution to overfishing, mean supplies have dwindled dramatically in recent decades.
While the writhing, snake-like creature is repellent to some, it is a mainstay of Japanese cuisine, and since the 17th century has most often been prepared kabayaki style: skewered, grilled and basted in a mixture of soy sauce and mirin rice wine.
