Because I grew up in Japan and because L. and I both like it, I always have eel in my freezer. It defrosts and reheats really quickly for a fast meal. I have served it with pasta but it has a myriad of uses which I describe in the linked pasta post. This morning L. requested an early lunch of eel, so I decided to make unagi donburi (eel over rice) as a quick way of getting fuel into my teen.
The real revelation of the lunch was the success of microwaving the rice. Again, because of my Asian upbringing, I take rice VERY seriously and though I thought I had found the way of cooking it perfectly every time, Real Simple magazine's microwave recipe seemed intriguing but I made A TON of adjustments, especially to the cooking time, to get it so that it tasted like Japanese rice.
1 cup sushi rice, as it is called in most grocery stores
About 1 1/2 to 2 cups water
Rice the rice several times under running water to remove excess starch. In Japan it is traditionally washed three times.
Place it in a microwave safe bowl and add the water. I say 1 1/2 cups of water as a guideline but I did what our Japanese neighbor taught me when I was small and what L.'s Japanese nanny did when he was little: I put water in so that it reaches about an inch above the rice. If you rest your finger on the surface of the rice the water should reach your first knuckle.
Microwave for 5 minutes. Stir and microwave for an additional 4.
Cover and allow to steam for 3 minutes. Fluff up roughly with a fork before eating.
This version will save you cooking time compared to other methods and is pointless if you own a rice cooker but I liked the one bowl to table approach and always like learning new reasons for using my microwave!
Inspiration recipe, here.