Sweet, savory, and full of flavor, this delicious Homemade Unagi Sauce or Eel Sauce is the dream sauce for unagi and BBQ dishes!
Have you tried grilled unagi (eel) or unagi sushi before? What is that caramelized sweet, salty sauce that goes with the unagi? Well, the irresistible golden brown sauce is basically called the Unagi Sauce (うなぎのたれ).
What is Unagi Sauce?
Unagi Sauce or Unagi no Tare (うなぎのたれ) is a special type of thick and sweetened soy sauce.
Traditionally, it is commonly used on grilled eel or different dishes that feature grilled eel such as unagi don (Unadon/Unaju) or unagi sushi. Although there are many commercial brands of the sauce available in the market, the best eel sauce is the one you make at home.
How to Make Unagi Sauce At Home
To make this sauce at home is as simple as one can imagine. You only need 4 ingredients – sake, mirin, sugar, and soy sauce – to create a rich, umami-packed eel sauce. Combine the mixture in a small pot and let it simmer over the stove until the sauce caramelizes and thickens to your desired richness.
The great thing about making the sauce at home instead of buying the pre-made stuff is you can decide on the sweetness and saltiness level. And there are no additives in the ingredients.
Can Unagi Sauce Be Gluten Free?
Yes! Use Gluten Free Soy Sauce to make the gluten-free version of the sauce!
What is Unagi Sauce Used for?
Aside from regular unagi dishes, unagi sauce is finger-licking delicious on any BBQ dishes. Think grilled meat, grilled fish, grilled tofu, grilled mushrooms, and grilled rice ball (Yaki Onigiri). All you need is a light brush or a drizzle of this sweet-savory sauce to heighten the flavor of the dish. In addition, you can use the eel sauce as a marinade for meats or as a dressing for freshly cooked noodles.
If you’re looking for a new flavor to add to your grill menus this year, you want to try out this recipe! It is absolutely one of my favorite sauces to make in the summer.
Where to Buy Unagi Sauce (Eel Sauce)
If you want to skip making homemade sauce, you can purchase the bottled one at the condiment section of Japanese grocery stores. You may also find it in well-stocked Asian grocery stores. If that’s not an option, get on Amazon.
Japanese Ingredient Substitution: If you want to look for substitutes for Japanese condiments and ingredients, click here.
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Sweet, savory, and full of flavor, this delicious Homemade Unagi Sauce is the dream sauce for eel and BBQ dishes!
Gather all the ingredients.
In a small saucepan, add mirin, sake, sugar. Turn on the heat to medium heat and whisk all the mixture.
Then add soy sauce and bring it to a boil. Once boiling, reduce heat to the low heat and continue simmering for 20 minutes. Toward the end of cooking, you will see more bubbles.
Turn off the heat and let cool. The sauce will thicken more as it cools. You can store the sauce in an airtight jar and keep in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks.
Recipe by Namiko Chen of Just One Cookbook. All images and content on this site are copyright protected. Please do not use my images without my permission. If you’d like to share this recipe on your site, please re-write the recipe in your own words and link to this post as the original source. Thank you.
Editor’s Note: The post is originally published on May 6, 2013. The new images have been added to the post in May 2019.
Thanks so much for this recipe! We love Unagi. I am going to try this on different fish as I haven’t seen eel in my local supermarket.
Hi Kerry! If you don’t have a Japanese grocery store around, try Chinese/Korean market. They should carry at least one kind of packaged precooked eel. 🙂 Hope you enjoy this sauce!
um could you replace mirim with honey
Hi Thor! Um… it’s a tough question. Mirin and honey are quite different in sweetness and flavor (fragrance too). For this particular dish, I think it’s a bit strange to use honey… For some recipes (like baked goods, marinades, etc), mirin can be replaced with honey and it will work, but for Unagi sauce, I just don’t think it’ll work… You can replace with sugar though, if you cannot/don’t want to use alcohol. Hope that helps! 🙂
thank you so very much um could you post more things with honey??
I’m currently working on Japanese Honey Sponge Cake. If you like honey, I hope you enjoy this dessert. 🙂
So far I have these recipes that I used honey:
https://www.justonecookbook.com/tags/honey/
Hope that helps.
it sounds good cant wait
This site is exceptional! Thank you Nami, I appreciate it greatly, especially the hyperlinks of ingredients within the ingredient table on how to make them.. Extremely nice and professional.. definitely the “AsiaN” touch on that one;-)
Hi Serge! Aww thank you so much for your kind compliments! Well, I really wish to make my blog even more organized but I just don’t have enough time to clean up and organize my blog…. 😉 Thank you!
Hello Nami,
This is a great blog, I really enjoy it. I am just wondering can I make this sauce without sake? Thanks.
Hi Pauline! In Japanese cooking, sake is included often for certain purpose (to reduce the smell of fish/meat, to tender the meat/fish, make the sauce mild, etc). Without sake the result won’t be the same, but you can omit it if you cannot use it. 🙂 Just to make sure, if you cannot use sake because of alcohol content, mirin has sake in it too, so you may want to avoid it also. Don’t worry, you can make it with soy sauce and sugar, and adjust with water if it’s too strong (as you will be lacking liquid from mirin and sake). Hope this helps! 🙂
Hi Namiko,
I don’t usually have sake in my kitchen is it okay to replace it with some other white wine or Chinese cooking wine? I have mirin in my kitchen but just not sake.
Hi Patricia! You can use Chinese cooking wine. 🙂
Thanks for the recipe and well assembled site. Will definitely follow you.
Hi James! Thank you for your kind feedback! I’m happy to hear you enjoy my site. Thank you for following! 🙂
If I want to substitute mirin and sake what can i use and what are the proportions?
Hi Smilem. Please know that sake and mirin are very important ingredients in Japanese cooking and if you cook without them, the final result will not be the same.
So I highly recommend buying them if you want to cook Japanese foods (and we always use them).
However, if you cannot use alcohol, then the best you can substitute with is water and sugar. I know it’s not the same flavor at all…but you need sweetness from sugar for mirin, and water to add more liquid (so it’s not too much soy sauce flavor). I hope this helps! 🙂
hi, I love your recipe so much but I wonder is there the difference from unagi hand-made and the one bought from shop ?
Oh yes! Homemade taste much better in my humble opinion. If you have time and all the ingredients, I highly recommend for homemade one. Once you taste it, you won’t go back to the store bought. 🙂
Is there a way to skip the boiling at the end, or is that non-negotiable?
Hi Amy! Without simmering the sauce will not be thicken, so it’s very watery. Unagi sauce should be thick and flavor is rich. With the thick sauce, it stays on top of unagi. 🙂 Hope this helps!
Thanks, oh and also, is this the same thing as eel sauce? I heard it was but I thought eel sauce had eel in it.
We call it Unagi Sauce and I guess direct translation is “eel” sauce. No Unagi in it though but during the cooking process, we put unagi head and tail in it for flavor (the part we don’t put on top of rice). Hope this helps!
Can excess Unagi sauce be stored and for how long? Does it need to be refrigerated the whole time or can it be bottled and shipped to a vacation destination? Thx
Hi Dianne! If we don’t put water or vegetables (for example), theoretically it doesn’t go bad. However, I’d recommend to keep in a bottle or air tight container, and keep in the fridge. When you use it, make sure to boil it first. If you keep it longer, you should at least boil it once a week. You can also keep in the freezer too. 🙂 Hope this helps!
One more recipe to try. Right now!
I am so happy I found your blog!!! Yesterday I made the Miso Ramen again for my relatives that are visiting and they loved it! I’ll make the unagui sauce because my kids love unagui maki and they will have it today for lunch but I was missing the sauce…As always, I can count on you!
Thank you!
Hi Denise! This homemade Unagi Sauce is so delicious and I hope you and your family liked it. I’m so happy to hear you and your relatives enjoyed the ramen recipe! It’s pretty easy to make, but so delicious! 🙂 Thank you for trying out my recipes and writing the kind feedback. 🙂
Thanks for the excellent recipe! I really enjoy when pictures are included that show the steps in the process. Very nice. :^D
Hi Alan! Thank you so much for your kind feedback! 🙂
I made this but with about half the cooking time (10 minutes) it formed into toffee when cooled. It still tasted great on the eggplant, it wasn’t burned it was just solid in my pan and no good to store what was left. Any idea what I did wrong?
Hi Toni! Sounds like your heat was on higher than “simmer”. It should be thick sauce, and it looked like you passed that stage and all the syrupy sauce turned into “toffee” after evaporation. You just want to cook slowly (simmer) and let the water evaporate so that the sauce is slightly thicker (not watery) so you can brush on the unagi and the sauce stays on top instead of running down. 🙂
Try adding just the tiniest drop of liquid smoke. Makes it spot on.
Thanks so much for your tip! I’ll try it next time!
Always best to list the ingredients in the order they are to be used…
Fixed, thanks for letting me know!
You have soy sauce in this recipe. But is it the dark soy sauce or the lighter soy sauce? Which do we use?
Hi Olivia! Japanese do not have dark or light soy sauce like Chinese soy sauce. 🙂 We only have light-color soy sauce which is used in western part of Japan. Here’s the soy sauce I use: https://www.justonecookbook.com/pantry_items/soy-sauce/
Hi, Can I freeze this if I have leftover? How long can I freeze it? Thanks!
Hi Michelle! I usually keep 2-3 months in my fridge. You can probably freeze it for a longer time, like half year to one year… I think.
Hi I love your blog. Question: the ingredients in this are the same ones I use for teriyaki sauce, other than the lack of fresh garlic and ginger. How would you compare this to teriyaki sauce and/or tempura dipping sauce?
Thanks!
Hi Jeff! You sound like Mr. JOC when he first saw me cooking. 🙂 In Japanese cooking, all the seasoning is consisted of soy sauce, sake, mirin, (and sugar or sake). Whatever the dishes are…. same condiments! So I know why you’re confused. It’s all about different ratios. 🙂
I made this for sushi – was really easy but a really tasty addition
Glad to hear that. Thank you for your kind feedback, Gabrielle! xo
is sake necessary? it is because we don’t drink alcohol, is there any substitution?
Hi Chelsea! I have never made it without sake. I don’t drink alcohol either, but sake made of fermented sake gives umami when alcohol is evaporated, so it’s not the alcohol that’s important. I think you can use water instead but water doesn’t have any umami or sweetness… 🙂
Simmer for 20 minutes?! It already butned about 2 minutes in.
Hi ML! Yes, simmer is very low heat, and you will need at least 15-20 mins to reduce to a thick unagi sauce. 2 minutes is still liquid, not syrupy yet.
How long can you store unagi sauce in the fridge?
Hi Cheryllani! You can store the sauce in an airtight jar and keep in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks.
Just came across this recipe and I am absolutely thrilled. It’s simmering now and the smell is amazing! We’ll be having yaki onigiri with shrimp yaki udon tonight and thia sauce is just what I needed. Thank you, thank you, thank you! I had to make one switch, unfortunately. I’m all out of regular sugar so I substituted brown sugar. I’m hoping it will be just as good.
Hi Courtney! You r dinner sounds wonderful. Hope you enjoyed this recipe! 🙂
Hello, I was wondering if there are any other substitutes for mirin?
Hi Serena! Mirin can be substitute with water and sugar. More details here: https://www.justonecookbook.com/sake-mirin/ 🙂
Thank you! You always save my oriental dishes!!
Hi Stefano! Hope you enjoy(ed) this recipe! 🙂
You have been my go to for Sushi making. Would you kindly explain the difference between mirin and rice vinegar? Can you you substitute rice vinegar for mirin? Thank You.
Hi Soone! For short, you can’t substitute because the flavor profile is COMPLETELY different. Rice vinegar is basically vinegar, and mirin is sweet syrup. Hope this post is helpful (Read “Can I Substitute Sake & Mirin with Rice Vinegar?”):
https://www.justonecookbook.com/sake-mirin/
I made this tonight and it came out perfectly. Just as good as my local sushi place! As the ingredients first went in I wasn’t sure it was going to come out right as it smelled mostly like soy sauce. I kept at it though and will admit I added about a tablespoon more sugar (as I like it more sweet) but oh my goodness this was divine! Thank you from the bottom of my heart for this recipe! I no longer have to suffer when I forget to order extra eel sauce with my sushi!
Hi Mrs. Nadeau! I’m really glad to hear you liked this recipe and thank you for your kind words! 🙂 Enjoy sushi at home! xo
I had just tried making this recipe and found it to be extremely salty. I used Kikkoman’s All-Purpose soy sauce. I had even added an extra tablespoon of sugar and it still ended up very salty. What could’ve gone wrong?
Hi Annabelle! I’m sorry this recipe didn’t work out for you. I make this recipe all the time and many people gave positive feedback for this recipe. So I think either your soy sauce is saltier than mine (each brand/kind has different taste/saltiness) or we just have different taste.
Adding sugar after adding soy sauce doesn’t sweeten the flavor. In Japanese cooking, we always start with sweet ingredients first (sake, mirin, sugar) before adding soy sauce and miso. So we control by the amount of soy sauce or miso as we can’t undo by adding sugar (like how you tried).
When you have to cook/simmer the food for a longer time, we add soy sauce/miso gradually (2-3 additions), which keeps the food not too salty. We use this technique to make some of my recipes on the blog.
Sorry I got digressed. In your case, maybe use less soy sauce next time. 🙂
Namiko-san, thank you for the recipe. I notice that most of the tare recipes include the same basic ingredients, shoyu, mirin, sake and sugar but in different ratios with some sauces including other ingredients like ginger or garlic. I would like to suggest that you post a sauce page (printable) that lists all of these similar sauces in one place. I always end up having to look up the sauces every time I try one. Would be great to have a page printed out I can have handy in the kitchen.
ありがとうございます。Randy
Hi Randy! It’s correct – the different ratio for pretty much everything – nikujaga (simmered dish), teriyaki-style grilled dish… etc, making different taste with dashi etc.
As for the sauces, I understand your frustration and I’m sorry all the sauces can’t be on one page. For SEO (search engine optimization), that’s not the right way to share any recipes. Each post needs one recipe plugin that is optimized for one recipe. Otherwise, no one will find the page on google (or more like Google won’t rank you high). I have to follow what Google like us to do. 🙁
I’m not sure if you’re aware, but I have a condiment and sauce tag: https://www.justonecookbook.com/tags/condiment-sauce/. If you go to Recipe Index, click “Dish Type” and select “condiment and sauce”. I try my best to keep my recipes organized as much as possible. Hope this helps!
Hi @
IS it possible to use splenda instead of sugar?
Thanks!
Hi Shelly! I don’t use it so I’m not sure… but if you usually replace sugar with it, it should be okay, I assume? 🙂
Please do you have a recipe for pumpkin Katsu curry
Hi Jan! Does this mean pumpkin katsu (instead of meat) OR pumpkin curry…?
Hi Nami. Thank you so much for this site. I absolutely love it.
I’ve got a tough question: my daughter and I have celiac and cannot have shoyu. We have purchased (and now will make) our own gluten free unagi sauce, but I can’t find gluten free unagi. All the packaged, frozen unagi has been pre-barbecued with shoyu and so is not gluten free.
Are you aware of any gluten free brand of unagi? I just can’t find it.
Hi Woodie! It’s probably difficult to buy outside of Japan, but we do have unagi that is not covered with the sauce. And we call it Shira-yaki 白焼き. We can buy those in Japan.
https://search.rakuten.co.jp/search/mall/%E3%81%86%E3%81%AA%E3%81%8E+%E7%99%BD%E7%84%BC%E3%81%8D/
And guess what, I found it… but too many. This is probably for restaurants. 🙁
https://nymtc.com/latest-news/monthly-highlight/shirayaki-unagi/
Hi, thank you so much for your response. I’m definitely going to try. -Woodie
Hope you enjoy the recipe! xo
Beautiful. and informative site.
Hi Valerie! Thank you for your kind words!