Fake eel. Ready to survive hot summer!

Japan has four seasons, spring, summer, fall and winter. I wrote about the event for beginning of spring, SETSUBUN before.

Seasonal event- Setsubun on February 3rd

Soybean has been used for not only being scattered on February 3rd but also be processed like Tofu, Natto, Miso, Soy sauce, and so on.

japanagriculture.com

2020.01.31

July 21st in 2020 was the Midsummer Day.

Japanese people have eaten eel to survive summer heat on the Midsummer Day since more than one thousand years.

But the number of natural eel is decreasing and researchers are trying to develop eel feeding technique but not developed yet.

So the price of eel is very expensive in Japan.
One company sells imitate eel, which is made from fish.

The package says “eel free”.

the site for introducing fake eel (in Japanese)

うなる美味しさ！うな次郎 - 商品情報 | 一正蒲鉾株式会社

「うなる美味しさ！うな次郎」は、うなぎの蒲焼風の練り製品。生まれ変わって、ふっくらコクうま！

www.ichimasa.co.jp

My friend said its shape and taste are similar to real eel. I have no idea about nutritional value difference between real eel and imitation but I am impressed to Japan’s food processing technique.