Shizuoka Specialty: What is Unagi Pie?

Unagi is a freshwater eel seen in Japanese cooking.

The fillet can be a sushi topping and is expensive compared to Anago, a saltwater eel also seen in sushi in a grilled form.

The best Japanese dish using Unagi is arguably Unagi no Kabayaki (うなぎの蒲焼).

The char-grilled eel, Unagi no Kabayaki, is one of the exquisite dishes that Japan can boast to the world.

But what comes to your mind when you think of Japanese sweets using the Unagi eel?

Unagi Pie (うなぎパイ) from Shunkado

What crosses my mind once I hear that is the Unagi Pie (うなぎパイ) pictured above, which, in fact, is probably the most famous confection associated with Unagi. 

The pie pastry snack uses a wee bit of Unagi, only a little bit of the powdered extract, but neither contains actual eel meat nor tastes like Unagi.

In the making, wheat flour dough is kneaded with the eel extract. It is then baked and brushed with a Tare sauce.

The resulting thing is a crispy, sweet-savory pie snack sold by Shunkado (春華堂), a confectionery maker whose head office is in Hamamatsu, Shizuoka Prefecture.

The city, Hamamatsu (浜松), is situated near Lake Hamana, where the cultivation of Unagi eels was once prosperous.

The confection Unagi Pie is said to have been created after the fact, emulating French Palmier cookies, and began to be sold in 1961.

Ingredients/Calories

According to the official website of Shunkado, their Unagi Pie mainly consists of wheat flour, sugar, dairy products, Unagi powder, starch syrup, fructooligosaccharides syrup, Unagi flavoring, and garlic.

The calories per piece are 79 kcal.

Where to Buy 

For people who want to try it someday, the Shunkado Unagi Pie is available all year round at highway rest areas, airport souvenir shops, or the like in and around Shizuoka.

(Reference Page: Wikipedia うなぎパイ )