Four Ways to Eat One Bowl of Hitsumabushi

At Nagoya Bincho in Ginza, hitsumabushi comes with a small empty bowl and accompaniments beside the eel and rice. The table is set so that you can change how you eat each serving as you scoop it out. Eel and rice return in slightly different forms over the course of the same meal.

Why There Is a Small Bowl on the Side

The meal photographed at Nagoya Bincho came with an empty bowl, garnishes and broth alongside the eel and rice. You use the empty bowl to serve yourself a little at a time. Mix the garnishes or pour the broth into the main bowl at the outset and you lose the chance to taste the original version. Serving one portion at a time lets you compare the grilled aroma, the garnishes and the broth over the course of one meal.

Start With a Quarter of the Eel and Rice

Atsuta Horaiken in Nagoya begins its instructions by dividing the eel and rice into four portions. Spoon the first quarter into the small bowl and eat it plain. Notice the aroma of the grilled eel and the sauce that has soaked into the rice. That first bowl gives you something to compare the other flavors with.

From Garnishes to Broth

The photograph shows the surface of the grilled eel and the seasoned rice beneath it. When you add green onion or wasabi, the aroma changes first. Add broth and the grains separate, changing the texture and softening the concentration of the sauce. The second and third servings differ in the way you chew and in the balance of ingredients in each spoonful. You can decide what to do with the final quarter once you have tasted the difference.

Two Bowls, One With Garnishes and One With Broth

Top the second quarter with garnishes such as green onion, nori and wasabi. Their aroma comes through the rich eel and sweet sauce, while the seaweed adds another texture. Pour stock or tea over the third quarter and eat it like ochazuke. Once the grains loosen and the sauce mingles with the broth, the same piece of eel leaves a different taste. The exact garnishes and broth vary by restaurant.

Choose the Last Serving After Trying the First Three

The fourth quarter has no prescribed flavor. Eat it plain if you want the grilled aroma again, add garnishes if that was your favorite, or pour over more hot broth. Keeping a quarter in reserve lets you choose how the meal ends after you have tried the other three.

How Nagoya’s Serving Ritual Reached Ginza

The photographs were taken in Tokyo’s Ginza, but the sequence at the table follows the one introduced by a Nagoya eel restaurant. When a regional dish travels, its serving order can travel alongside its ingredients and cooking methods. Slicing the eel and spreading it over the rice means the first serving and the last both get some. The small bowl and the pot of broth let diners flavor each serving differently. The sequence is built into the table setting, so a first-time diner can follow the guide or watch a neighboring table.