Hitsumabushi

Hitsumabushiis a local dish of Japan, consisting of thinly slicedunagi(eel) grilled inkabayakistyle on rice.Hitsumabushibecame common in the 1950s, when farm-raised eel became widely available.
The grilled eel and rice dish can be eaten three ways. Typically, the first serving is eaten as is, just the eel and rice; the second serving is eaten with toppings such asnegi,wasabi,nori, and/ormitsuba; the third serving is eaten withdashior green tea poured over the eel and rice, in addition to the other toppings, to makechazuke.
The origins of this cuisine and when it came to be calledHitsumabushiare not exactly known. The prevailing theory is that it originated in aRyōteirestaurant in Nagoya, but some say it originated in Tsu City, Mie Prefecture. Others believe that it originated in the Kansai region.
One such restaurant that claims to be the originator is "Atsuta Houraiken" inAtsuta-ku, Nagoya, or ."Iba sho" inNaka-ku, Nagoya.
"Atsuta Houraiken" dates the establishment of Hitsumabushi to theMeiji period."Atsuta Houraiken" servedunagirice inpotterybowls at that time, but since there were manydeliveriesand delivery staff often broke empty bowls when they return. Therefore, the bowls were placed in large, break-proof wooden tubs. The restaurant also added a plate for the number of people to share the bowl with.In 1985, "Atsuta Houraiken" applied to registerHitsumabushias a trademark with theJapan Patent Office, and it was registered in 1987 (see below).
"Ibasyo" states thathitsumabushiwas established in theTaishō era.A description ofhitsumabushican be found in the "Ibasho" section of the "Nagoya Mikaku Map" published by Sogensha in 1964.
According to a restaurant founded in 1875 inTsu, Mie, before eel farming began, they used natural eels, which were of uneven size. The thicker ones were too hard to serve to customers. It would have been a waste to dispose of them, so they were grilled and chopped into small pieces for the employees' meals. The smell of the fish would linger if it was grilled too quickly, so it is assumed that they added condiments and made it into chazuke (rice with green tea). In other words, it was something they had no choice but to eat at that time. The owner of the restaurant heard that it was offered in Nagoya and started offering it as a menu item around 1975, and several restaurants in Tsu also started offering it after receiving inquiries abouthitsumabushi.
Some believe it was before theMeiji era.
A book published in Tokyo in 1926, "Spring, Summer, Autumn, Winter Daily Dishes," does not mention the wordhitsumabushi, but describes a dish in which grilled eel is cut into 2-3bu(3–9 mm), placed on freshly cooked rice, and stirred with a liquid of soy sauce, mirin and coarse sugar boiled down.
Some people attribute it to the period of food shortages afterWorld War II.The author of the article, however, later changed the term to "apparently prewar period".
Several hypotheses have been raised as to the origin of the namehitsumabushi.
Hitsumabushiis a registered trademark of Nagoya-based Houraiken Corporation, filed in 1985 and registered in 1987.However, this does not mean that Houraiken is the originator ofhitsumabushi.In addition, this was registered as a product, and "offering food and drink" was not subject to registration at the time of application. After this category became eligible for registration, Houraiken applied for a trademark for "offering food and drink," but theJapan Patent Officerejected the application, stating that "most eel restaurants in Nagoya add this to their menus, and it is known throughout the country as a Nagoya specialty."