Quickly attracting attention! Fat and thick Joban-mono conger eel

Among Joban-mono seafood, conger eel has been gaining attention in recent years. Conger eel is caught all year-round using bottom trawling and tubular traps, with those caught in winter being particularly fatty and delicious. Although conger eels look very similar to eels, their ecology and flavor are different. For example, eels spend their spawning season in the sea, and after hatching they live in fresh water. On the other hand, conger eels spend their entire life in the sea. Conger eels also have a lighter flavor compared to eels, with the added benefit of being lower in calories and healthier.

Although conger eels have been fished in Fukushima for some time, they have only become more widely recognized in the local area in the last few years. Due to their popularity in urban markets such as Toyosu, many had been shipped out of the prefecture. However, thanks to the efforts of local restaurants and processors, conger eels are beginning to attract local attention. Conger eel is popularized by “Sakanaya Shokudo Urokoju” restaurant, which serves generously portioned conger eel dishes, and “Osakana Hiroba Hamasui”, which sells processed conger eel products. We visited the establishments and asked the owners about the appeal of conger eels.　

Conger eel dishes crafted by the fourth-generation owner of a former fish cake manufacturing company

Conger eel tempura bowl at Urokoju is generously topped with conger eel tempura. Mr. Kanari’s hallmark is the boldness of his menu, which features generous portions of ingredients. This reflects his desire to let customers enjoy plenty of the main ingredient, since they order the tempura bowl specifically to eat conger eel.

Kanari-san, who now stands in the kitchen himself, was originally the fourth-generation owner of a fish cake manufacturing company that had been in business for over 70 years. The factory, located right on the sea, was completely destroyed by the tsunami. Due to financial constraints, he abandoned the plan to rebuild the fish cake factory and instead started Urokoju, a fresh fish and processed goods shop at the tourism and local product center Iwaki Lalamew.

One day, at the shop, a customer said to me, “I’ve come all the way to Iwaki, so I want to eat something delicious”. After the earthquake, he became concerned that the number of restaurants serving fresh local fish had decreased, and he decided to take matters into his own hands. He transformed Urokoju into a restaurant at the new location.

Although it was his first venture into the restaurant business, he found that “when he cooked the fish they had sourced and served it, everyone enjoyed it and said it was delicious”. Gradually gaining confidence, it has now become a popular restaurant with queues of customers. Kanari-san says, “After the earthquake, I realized the importance of getting the word out”. He used to dislike promoting himself, but he realized that “if he did not speak up, no one would notice”. Fukushima is home to a number of delicious fish that are surprisingly not well-known, including conger eel. Instead of just waiting to be noticed, he now actively shares his thoughts and promotes these local treasures. Behind this approach is a deep confidence in the fish and dishes he serves.

　

●Sakanaya Shokudo Urokoju

　

Glaze-grilled conger eel, also available by mail order

The development was prompted by the thought “Can we create products with large conger eels?” as smaller conger eels were highly prized as sushi ingredients. Initially, they tried making simmered conger eels, but the thick flesh was not well-suited for it. Abe-san said, “When we tried grilling it, it turned out to be much tastier”.

The development of “Hand-grilled whitespotted conger eel” was driven by a decrease in sales due to the COVID-19 pandemic. They recognized the need to create something that could be delivered online, not just sold in-store, and began developing new products. While thinking about “what products can be made from Joban-mono fish?”, we came up with the idea of conger eel. The conger eel stood out because it had not received much attention among the 200 or so Joban-mono species, despite its considerable catch volume.

Originally, Abe-san worked in a field unrelated to fish or the sea. Although his father was a marine engineer and his grandfather a ferry captain, giving him a connection to the sea, he never imagined himself working with fish. When I was in my previous job helping people to start their own businesses, I thought to myself, “It’s presumptuous of me to be advising other people when I haven’t even started my own business yet”. As a new starting point, he chose to venture into the fish industry. Although he had never handled fish before, through daily effort he has now mastered techniques such as shinkei-jime (a fish preparation technique involving quick killing and nerve destruction) for flounders and hanging butchery for monkfish.