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【English Name】Ni-Anago (Simmered Conger Eel)

Nianago (boiled conger eel) is a preparation method in which sea conger (maanago) is simmered in a sweet-and-savory tare, and is one of the toppings representative of Edomae sushi. It developed mainly in the Kanto region.

In preparation, the anago is first opened in the same manner as unagi. It is slowly simmered in a broth combining soy sauce, mirin, sugar, and sake, and that broth is further reduced to make a thick sauce called "tsume," which is applied to the surface with a brush to finish.

It is most commonly served as nigiri sushi, but there are also diverse ways of eating it, such as placing it over rice as a donburi, in yawata-maki rolled around a burdock core, or in a vinegared dish combined with cucumber. Hiroshima's anago-meshi mainly uses grilled anago, but some shops use nianago. In recent years, the "aburi" style of searing the surface has also spread.

In the environment of the Edo period without refrigeration technology, techniques of applying "work" (shigoto) to seafood, such as simmering and curing, were born, and nianago has been handed down to the present day as a leading example. The technique of carefully removing the slime peculiar to anago and simmering it with exquisite heat control is regarded as a showcase of a sushi chef's skill.