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Sweet ‘n thick, this restaurant-style eel sauce is deliciously flavorful, thanks to Japanese sweet wine, soy sauce, and sugar. This 4 ingredient recipe is so easy to make and far better than takeout! Great on shrimp, sushi, eel, and more.
Why This Recipe Works
- Mouthwateringly good: This velvety eel sauce is flavored with Japanese sweet wine, soy sauce, and sugar. The sweet and savory combo is so tasty!
- Better than takeout: This eel sauce is better than anything you can buy at a restaurant, and you get to make it just the right thickness for you.
- Great sauce for dipping: and drizzling! Just 19 minutes of easy cooking, and you’ll have homemade eel sauce that’s great on sushi, fried rice, pan-seared chicken, and so much more!
Eel Sauce – the Best Unagi Sauce!
Ever had eel sauce (also known as unagi sauce)? It’s one of my very favorite condiments. It tastes good on everything… obviously sushi and eel, but also salmon bites and veggies. There’s just something about it’s thick and velvety texture and savory-sweetness that just hits the spot. So believe me when I say that today’s eel sauce is the very best. Homemade unagi sauce is so much better (and truly easy to make) that you’ll be wondering why you didn’t do it sooner. Let’s drizzle this delicious Japanese sauce on everything!
What is Eel Sauce? Unagi Sauce?
Eel sauce, otherwise known as unagi sauce, is a sweet and savory condiment originating from Japanese cuisine and made with soy sauce and Mirin, among other ingredients. Why is it called eel sauce? Because it was originally used as a glaze for unagi and anago, eel dishes.
What is Eel Sauce Made of?
Eel sauce is made of soy sauce, sugar, Mirin (a Japanese wine), and corn starch. Below are a few ingredient notes for this easy unagi sauce recipe.
Eel Sauce Ingredients
- Soy sauce – you can choose lower sodium or the usual soy sauce. Either will do in unagi sauce.
- Sugar – just granulated sugar will do.
- Mirin – a rice wine oft-used in Japanese cuisine that has a 14% alcohol content and is sweeter than sake.
- Corn starch – this is the key ingredient that helps to thicken your homemade eel sauce to the just-right thickness. Resist the temptation to add more; the cooking process will thicken the sauce–and so will the cooling process.
How Do You Make Eel Sauce?
Unagi sauce, aka eel sauce, is so easy to make, it literally can be summed up in two steps. The trick is to determine what thickness you’re looking for and adjust the cook time accordingly.
Tip: for thicker sauce, cook for close to 19 minutes total. For thinner unagi sushi sauce, cook for about 12 minutes or so.
- In a saucepan over medium heat, whisk together soy sauce, sugar, mirin, and corn starch. While cooking, whisk occasionally, until the eel sauce mixture is thickened.
- After about 8 minutes, reduce heat to low. Cook for an additional 10 minutes or so for a thick sauce. Serve with seafood, sushi, and veggies.
Is Eel Sauce Vegan, Gluten Free, Vegetarian?
Yes, homemade eel sauce is vegan, gluten free, and vegetarian as long as the ingredients are certified as such. For example, make sure to use organic cane sugar since regular granulated sugar can be made with bone char.
How to get thick Eel Sauce (Why is my eel sauce so thin? How do I fix thin eel sauce?)
Take your time cooking the sauce. To get truly thick sauce, we’ll be using a combination of a little cornstarch and slow cook time. It may seem more convenient to throw this sauce together in 5 minutes, but truly great eel sauce takes time. After it simmers (about 8 minutes), lower the heat from medium to low. Then, you’ll cook the sauce on low for an additional 10 minutes or so, until it coats the back of the spoon.
What does coat the back of a spoon mean?
Dip a spoon into the sauce and pull it up, the back of the spoon will be semi-opaquely coated in sauce. It won’t drip off quickly and easily, like water. When you start the recipe, coat the back of the spoon—you’ll see a visible difference 10-15 minutes later. Then, around the 18 minute mark, you’ll be close to deliciously thick eel sauce recipe.
Serve Unagi Sauce with…
- Sushi: I love dipping everything from unakyu sushi and tamago sushi to deep-fried sushi in unagi sauce.
- Seafood: try this sauce with coconut shrimp, salmon, scallops and more.
- Veggies: cucumbers, roasted bell peppers, broccoli, etc.
- Rice: Drizzle this sauce over fried rice, brown rice… all the rice dishes!
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Sending you all my love and maybe even a dove, xo Demeter ❤️
Homemade Sauce Recipes
Eel Sauce Recipe (Unagi Sauce)
Equipment
Ingredients
Eel Sauce Ingredients
- ½ cup soy sauce
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- ½ cup mirin
- 2 teaspoons corn starch
Serve with:
- Grilled eel
- Coconut shrimp
- Sushi
- Asian cucumber salad
Instructions
- Set a small saucepan over medium heat. Whisk together soy sauce, sugar, mirin, and corn starch.
- Whisk occasionally, cooking until mixture has thickened and coats the back of a spoon and is semi-opaque (it won’t drip off quickly like water), about 12-19 minutes.*
- Note: After about 8 minutes, I switched to low heat and continued cooking. The sauce will occasionally bubble and simmer, that’s the time to whisk–this will help reduce down the bubbles. Keep cooking until it’s somewhat thickened bearing in mind it will also thicken a bit when cooled.
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Notes
- *Note: I like mine thicker, so I cook it a good bit, 19 minutes. You can do 12-15 minutes for thinner sauce.
This is absolutely delicious! Great with shrimp..or anything else! Thank you for sharing!!
That’s so wonderful to hear, Dell! I know, I totally love eating it with shrimp! 😋