Fish recipes: eel steamed and grilled
Eel isn't the most pleasant dish to prepare, but its texture, taste and sheer versatility make it worth the effort
I love eel, and often order it when I see it on the menu. I've eaten it everywhere from Michelin-starred restaurants in the most idyllic of settings, to humble roadside stalls, and have rarely met a preparation I dislike. It's not the easiest or most pleasant food to prepare, though. For one thing, an eel will move around long after it's been killed. For the first dish, have the seafood vendor cut the backbone in several places before bagging it up for you; for the second, ask him to fillet it for you. Also, the eel is a slimy creature and can easily slip out of your hands. The vendor will offer to skin it for you, which would make it easier to handle because the mucous-y slime is on the skin. But for these preparations, leave the skin on. If possible, buy the eel the day before you want to cook it and keep it in the coldest section of your refrigerator.
Chun pei is dried, aged tangerine peel that's used for both savoury and sweet dishes. The older it is, the more expensive. One piece of chun pei is the skin from a whole tangerine.
