Love unagi? Then you must try this catfish kabayaki recipe, sweet and delicate tare sauce on top of tender juicy catfish and garnished with sesame seeds.
Growing up in Japan I used to eat fish more often than I do now living in the U.S. With the wide variety of fish available in Japan, my mom prepared and cooked different kinds of fish throughout the week. She always said we need to eat meat and fish alternatively so that we can enjoy food from both the sea and land.
Today I want to introduce Catfish Kabayaki that is easy to get ingredients for anywhere you live, economical, simple and fast to cook, and last but not least, delicious for the whole family to enjoy.
What is Kabayaki?
Kabayaki (蒲焼き) is a style of Japanese cooking – just like how Teriyaki (照り焼き) is actually a style of cooking, not the name of the sauce.
This style of cooking is specifically for dishes prepared with fish. Typically a long fish is filleted, deboned, skewered, grilled without the sauce first, and then brushed with sweet soy sauce called tare (pronounced [ta LEH] たれ).
This tare is similar to yakitori tare and unagi tare. The sauces are all made with soy sauce, sake, mirin, and sugar, just with different ratio of the ingredients.
The popular Japanese eel or unagi (鰻) is actually called Unagi no Kabayaki (鰻の蒲焼き) because the way it’s cooked is kabayaki-style.
Catfish Kabayaki as an Alternative to Unagi (Eel)
Speaking of eel or unagi, this Catfish Kabayaki is a wonderful alternative to Unadon (鰻丼, Unagi Donburi) or Unajyu (鰻重).
For several years, good quality domestic unagi has been really expensive in Japan. We occasionally find them in the US at Japanese grocery stores, but the cost is close to $30 for one fillet. The non-Japanese frozen unagi in vacuum pack is cheaper, but has a rubbery texture and it doesn’t taste very good.
So what’s a good alternative? Try this Catfish Kabayaki! It is not unagi, but I think it’ll satisfy your cravings!
Key Ingredients to Make Perfect Catfish Kabayaki
Catfish: My local fish monger recommended me to use basa fish, a type of catfish for this recipe and I liked how it turned out! Of course you can use other types of fish as well, but choose fillets that are relatively thin so it’ll cook faster.
Flour: I use all-purpose flour for my Teriyaki Salmon recipe as well, and some of you asked why. Applying flour before cooking the fillet helps to retain the shape (flesh) of the fish, resulting in crispier texture, and thickens the sauce when you pour the liquid seasonings later.
Sake & Mirin: If you’re new to Japanese cooking, you probably want to ask if you can replace or substitute sake and mirin for something else. I always say to get these two ingredients because that’s they are essential Japanese ingredients that we use for a majority of Japanese (savory) recipes. Please check each pantry page for substitute information: sake here, and mirin here.
As usual, my family are the guinea pigs of my creation and they absolutely loved this dish. The sweet tare sauce worked really well with tender catfish and you have to enjoy it on top of rice. We liked this dish so much we ate it twice in 1 week. Enjoy!
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Catfish Kabayaki
Ingredients
- 2 basa fillets (catfish fillets)
- ⅛ tsp Diamond Crystal kosher salt
- ⅛ tsp freshly ground black pepper
- 1½ Tbsp all-purpose flour (plain flour)
- 1½ Tbsp neutral oil
- 2 green onions/scallions
- 2 servings cooked Japanese short-grain rice (typically 1⅔ cups (250 g) per donburi serving)
- 1 tsp toasted white sesame seeds
- Japanese sansho pepper (optional)
Instructions
- Before You Start: Gather all the ingredients. For the steamed rice, please note that 1½ cups (300 g, 2 rice cooker cups) of uncooked Japanese short-grain rice yield 4⅓ cups (660 g) of cooked rice, enough for 2 donburi servings (3⅓ cups, 500 g). See how to cook short-grain rice with a rice cooker, pot on the stove, Instant Pot, or donabe.
- Cut 2 basa fillets (catfish fillets) in half. Season both sides of the catfish fillets with ⅛ tsp Diamond Crystal kosher salt and ⅛ tsp freshly ground black pepper.
- Coat the fillets with 1½ Tbsp all-purpose flour (plain flour). Gently shake off the excess flour.
- Heat 1½ Tbsp neutral oil (if you like a crispier texture, use 2 to 2½ Tbsp oil) in the frying pan over medium heat. Cook both sides of the fillet until golden brown, about 3–4 minutes each side.
- Whisk 2 Tbsp sake, 2 Tbsp mirin, 3 Tbsp soy sauce, and 1 Tbsp sugar together in a small bowl. Pour the sauce over the fish in the pan. Using a spoon, scoop some sauce and pour it over the fish several times. Cook a few minutes until the sauce thickens.
- Thinly slice 2 green onions/scallions and sprinkle over the fish. Turn off the heat. Divide 2 servings cooked Japanese short-grain rice into individual large donburi bowls or plates. Serve the fish over the rice. Drizzle the sauce over the fish. Sprinkle with 1 tsp toasted white sesame seeds and Japanese sansho pepper, if you‘d like.
Mmm, so yummy! I put it atop half white rice, half brown rice. Such a great comfort food. I never realised that basa was a type of catfish! Now it feels much fancier.
As always, thanks Nami!
御馳走様でした!
Hi Julia! Thank you so much for trying this recipe! Haha I know, the name of the food gives you a completely different feeling! 😀
Really looking forward to trying this!
Hi Mari! Hope you enjoy this recipe! 🙂
Unadon is my favorite when at Japanese restaurants. Actually Anago-don is, but it it so rare now.
Since my wife is a southern (US) bred woman, this may be a way to introduce her to the basics.
And yes, the frozen eel products available to me in southwest Connecticut (H-mart is 55 miles away in distance – timewise, an eternity due to traffic congestion) are not up to par.
I will certainly try this out. –
Hi Al! Hope this will help your craving for Unagi. Japanese grocery stores sell unagi fillet for $35 (it’s from Kagoshima) and once in a while, we enjoy unadon… Nijiya (Japanese grocery stores in the west coast) carry Anago sometimes too. Hope there will be more Japanese grocery chain in the US (not only the west/east coast….). 🙂
Loved this recipe! So quick and easy and it turned out great with tilapia instead 🙂 Thank you Nami! I’ll try doubling the sauce next time as I didn’t have enough for the rice.
Hi jgrab! I’m so happy to hear you enjoyed this recipe! Thank you for trying it and for your kind feedback. 🙂 I have to make it soon… I love how easy it is, too! Thanks again!
Absolutely delicious and quick! I happened to have two nice sole filets, so I used that instead of catfish. I also didn’t have scallions, but thinly sliced serranos were a worthy replacement. I served it with lightly stir-fried zucchini and yellow squash, as well as kimchi. I will definitely be making this again.
Hi Danni! I’m glad to hear you liked this dish! Yes, sole fillets work well too! Your dinner sounds so healthy and delicious. 🙂 Thanks for trying this recipe and for your kind feedback. xo
I made this recipe with Tilapia because my supermarket didn’t have catfish. Still delish. So fast and easy and it tastes like restaurant quality.
Hi Natalia! Thank you for trying this recipe with Tilapia! I’m glad to hear it came out well. Thank you very much for your kind feedback. 🙂
[…] where eel meat is considered an important part of their cuisine, eels are popularly cooked as kabayaki, where the fish is butterflied through the belly or back, marinated in a soy sauce-based mixture, […]
Hi Nami can i use regular catfish
Hi Tallulah! What do you mean by “regular” catfish? I’m not sure which one is regular and non regular. 🙂 But yes, you can use regular catfish.
Hi agan
Hi again! sorry i didn’t specify, I meant the black catfish with the whiskers I’m not sure what there actually called
!
Hi Tallulah! Yes, that’s the one. 🙂
Thank you for this recipe, Nami. The flavor was wonderful. Unfortunately, I think I messed up somewhere because it came out way too salty. I may have oversalted the fillets in the beginning or maybe 3 tablespoons of soy sauce was just too much. I’ll make it again and will reduce the salt and soy sauce. Thanks again!
Hi Mydao! Sorry to hear yours came out too salty. One thing I want to point (and I mentioned in my FAQ page) is that I use kosher salt. If you use regular table salt, same amount of salt can be too salty. For example, if I use 1 tsp salt, you will need 1/2 tsp. Soy sauce brand may be slightly different in saltiness too, so that’s one thing to remember. Hope that helps. Otherwise, you can adjust the amount of salt slightly. 🙂
This was delicious. No adaptations to the recipe.
Thank you for your kind feedback, Abigail! xo
Thanks for this recipe, it is delicious
Thank you for your kind feedback, Michelle!
Any good substitute for sake and mirin?
Hi Syaz! For sake, dry sherry or Chinese rice wine would be a good substitute. For 1 Tbsp. mirin, you will need 1 Tbsp sake/rice wine/dry sherry + 1 tsp sugar. 🙂
This is a wonderful recipe.
Thank you Susanna! 🙂
Thanks for sharing this recipe. We made it last weekend and everyone loved it! Loved unagi when we were in Japan, but it is hard to find and very expensive here. This really hit the spot!
Hi Cory! So happy to hear everyone enjoyed it! Thank you very much for your kind feedback! 🙂
I made it last week and it was great! And very easy to make too. Thank you!
Hi Ina! Thank you so much for trying this recipe! I’m really happy to hear you liked it. 🙂