Again with the eel?

After watching the football game the other night down at the local bar we affectionately call "The Clam" in honor of Peter Griffin, I was overcome by a hankering for eel, yes, again. Thankfully the Maruichi Market was still open. Took a few quick photos of the noodles for sale, grabbed some eel and headed home.

Below is the famous UFO. It has, I think, squid as the main flavor ingredient thingy. It isn't a soup so much as noodles in sauce. I'm not too crazy about this one.


Below is an old favorite.


These big bowls for udon need to be augmented by some leftovers. They're also under-seasoned so when I have them for lunch I bring along a little tub of left over vegetables and chicken with a healthy dose of soy sauce and dashi. Actually, it's a bit too substantial for lunch but, you know, I do it anyway......


Here are my purchases on my counter. This one has a sweetened soft tofu cake. On a scale of 1 to 10 this gets a 6.5.



This one has a huge rice cracker with little shrimps in it. It's an attempt to mimic tempura. It's one of my faves and gets a solid 8.



To speed the thaw with the eel I floated it in some tepid water. It was ready to cook in about 10 minutes.


A snap of the fridge door, if you look closely, scattered amidst the Michelob Ultra bottles is a bottle of sake and a bottle of sesame oil (top shelf); Viet Namese Sriracha, Japanese chili paste, and Japanese mayonaise (second shelf); and more Sriracha, dashi and a huge tub of Kikkoman soy sauce (third shelf).



Ta dah!