# Grilled eel, game hen **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 30, 2010, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grilled-eel-game-hen/541291 "2010-05-30T15:45:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2010, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grilled-eel-game-hen/541291/1 "2010-05-30T15:45:49Z")
A coworker whose parents own an Asian fish store gave me a package of grilled eel. I’m thinking I might throw it over the coals with a glaze of teriyaki, or else do the teriyaki and broil it. Any other ideas? I’ve thawed a ‘Rock Cornish game hen’. (Don’t you just _love_ marketing names? Why can’t they just call them ‘young chickens’, which is what they are?) I’m thinking of making it with stuffing. ---
**Author:** ![Oakminster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/77aa72/32.png) [@Oakminster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oakminster)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2010, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grilled-eel-game-hen/541291/2 "2010-05-30T17:20:47Z")
I’d cook/eat the game hen, and either throw the eel away or feed it to cats or something. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2010, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grilled-eel-game-hen/541291/3 "2010-05-30T17:21:36Z")
You don’t like fish? ---
**Author:** ![Oakminster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/77aa72/32.png) [@Oakminster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oakminster)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2010, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grilled-eel-game-hen/541291/4 "2010-05-30T18:23:06Z")
Like fish. Don’t like snakes. Eels are visually closer to snakes than fish. Not for eating in my world. ---
**Author:** ![Superfluous\_Parentheses](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8edcca/32.png) [@Superfluous\_Parentheses](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superfluous_Parentheses)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2010, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grilled-eel-game-hen/541291/5 "2010-05-30T19:14:22Z")
Personally, I prefer smoked eel. But it will probably taste fine on toast with a smudge of horse radish or in a salad with some chopped orange and black olives. ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2010, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grilled-eel-game-hen/541291/6 "2010-05-30T19:17:49Z")
Johnny, have you ever had unagi at a Japanese restaurant? It’s one of my favorite things, unique but good. The sauce they use is similar to teriyaki but not identical, I think it’s just called “unagi sauce” if you’re looking for a recipe. I’ve been eating too much Cornish game hen lately. Young chickens are also called poulets, not sure what the difference in. Perhaps the exotic name justifies the cost, although I can get them pretty cheap (6$ per 2 or so) frozen at the supermarket. Oakminster. They’re fish. Have you ever had McDonald’s Filet O’ Fish (hoki), “Chilean Sea Bass” (Patagonian toothfish), or monkfish? They’re all hideous but at least two of them are tasty. Maybe avoid Google images if you don’t want to be put off. ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2010, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grilled-eel-game-hen/541291/7 "2010-05-30T19:43:35Z")
If the eel is already grilled, I’d just broil it with the glaze. My favorite Rock Cornish game hen recipe is just basted and served with orange butter. Yum. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2010, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grilled-eel-game-hen/541291/8 "2010-05-30T19:50:41Z")
> [@thelurkinghorror](#): > > Johnny, have you ever had unagi at a Japanese restaurant? Was Miyamoto Musashi good with a stick? Unagi is my favourite cooked sushi. 🙂 > [@needscoffee](#): > > If the eel is already grilled, I’d just broil it with the glaze. That sounds much easier than starting a fire. I suppose I’ll have to make rice. (I had rice yesterday and Friday.) ---
**Author:** ![Tequila\_Mockingbird](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/41988e/32.png) [@Tequila\_Mockingbird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tequila_Mockingbird)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2010, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grilled-eel-game-hen/541291/9 "2010-05-30T21:39:40Z")
Whenever we have eel here, I serve it over a bowl of rice flavored with a little sesame oil with some seaweed shreds and seasme seeds in there and topped with unagi sauce. But eel is high in cholesterol so I am trying to avoid it now. I always liked Cornish game hens roasted in the oven, with a little honey thinned out with water, brushed over the outside. Simple but good. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2010, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grilled-eel-game-hen/541291/10 "2010-05-30T22:12:24Z")
1. I don’t know if I’ll make the chicken tonight. Might do, but I may wait until tomorrow. In the meantime, I have Soy Vay Island Teriyaki sauce, soy sauce, and Sriracha sauce. I may have some powdered wasabi around. Don’t know about the sesame oil. I don’t think I have any. ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2010, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grilled-eel-game-hen/541291/11 "2010-05-30T22:27:20Z")
How about [sliced cucumbers with vinegar & sugar](http://www.eatingwell.com/recipes/japanese_cucumber_salad.html) like at Japanese restaurants? ---
**Author:** ![Dallas\_Jones](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dallas_jones/32/3277_2.png) [@Dallas\_Jones](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dallas_Jones)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2010, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grilled-eel-game-hen/541291/12 "2010-05-30T22:41:51Z")
Cornish Game Hens are really just young chickens that have been culled for one reason or the other. This is why you see some with only one leg, they were crippled. The term ‘pecking order’ is relevant in this case, as the competition for feed can be severe. Any wounded chickens become Cornish Game Hens by magic in this way. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2010, 11:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grilled-eel-game-hen/541291/13 "2010-05-30T23:05:45Z")
Turns out the eel already has sauce on it. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2010, 11:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grilled-eel-game-hen/541291/14 "2010-05-30T23:46:22Z")
Which fish store is it from? ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2010, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grilled-eel-game-hen/541291/15 "2010-05-30T23:55:49Z")
I don’t know, but it’s imported by Tokai Denpun in Bellevue. ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2010, 1:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grilled-eel-game-hen/541291/16 "2010-05-31T01:58:03Z")
Well, how was it? ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2010, 2:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grilled-eel-game-hen/541291/17 "2010-05-31T02:00:41Z")
Not bad at all. I ate the whole package – but just the fish; no rice or anything. I had half with the sauce that was already on it, and added the Soy Vay for some extra teriyaki taste to the second. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![omni-not](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/8dc957/32.png) [@omni-not](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/omni-not)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2010, 2:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grilled-eel-game-hen/541291/18 "2010-05-31T02:38:51Z")
Hope your Soy Vay was kosher 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2010, 2:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grilled-eel-game-hen/541291/19 "2010-05-31T02:46:01Z")
> [@omni-not](#): > > Hope your Soy Vay was kosher > > 😃 [It is](http://www.soyvay.com/index.php?main_page=page&id=1&chapter=0). On finding the link, I read that apparently there were different rules for Passover. I gather wheat isn’t permitted then. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2010, 4:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grilled-eel-game-hen/541291/20 "2010-05-31T04:23:49Z")
> [@](#): > > It is. Not anymore it isn’t. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grilled-eel-game-hen/541291.md?page=2)