"Kevin Tien, chef/owner of Moon Rabbit in Penn Quarter, says he encountered a lot of eel dishes, from soups to congee, when he traveled to Vietnam for the first time a year ago. "I didn't realize myself that eel is a really popular source of protein in Vietnam," he says. "And with my background in Japanese cuisine, I thought it was just an easy thing to put on our menu.""
"Owner James Jang says eel can be expensive and hard to source unless you buy the pre-marinated packaged versions. At first, he got live eels from a sustainable farm in Maine, but the preparation was labor-intensive, so now the kitchen buys them already fileted. The fish is partially cooked in the oven, but the staff renders the fat and crisps the skin at tabletop grills, then dips it in a sweet eel sauce that's further caramelized."
Eel is appearing across a range of cuisines beyond its common role on sushi. In Vietnam eel is a popular protein found in soups and congee. At Moon Rabbit chef Kevin Tien pairs torched sweet-soy-glazed freshwater eel with a northern-style bánh rán, pickled carrot-and-daikon salad, smoked-tuna aioli, and habanero jam. In Korea eel is served grilled tableside at Ingle Korean Steakhouse; owner James Jang initially sourced live eels from a sustainable Maine farm before switching to pre-fileted fish because preparation was labor-intensive. The fish is partially cooked in the oven, crisped on tabletop grills, and finished with a sweet eel sauce. Eel croquettes appear at Maison Bar à Vin, reviving a forgotten French ingredient.
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