# What does eel taste like? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 10, 2010, 8:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-eel-taste-like/535619 "2010-04-10T08:01:22Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Sinisterniik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/51bf81/32.png) [@Sinisterniik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sinisterniik)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2010, 8:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-eel-taste-like/535619/1 "2010-04-10T08:01:22Z")
OK, so I’m a big sushi fan and have enjoyed eel rolls for a long time. So, tonight I decided to try it out of roll for the first time. So as I masticated my naked unagi, I thought that it tasted like albacore tuna. My mother remarked that it tasted like chicken (not jokingly) and my sister couldn’t discern a distinct taste through the sauce they used. So, I thought I’d put the question out there. For those of you who’ve tried eel before, how would describe the taste? (And please don’t say “fishy”) ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2010, 9:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-eel-taste-like/535619/2 "2010-04-10T09:08:09Z")
It is a dense, meaty white fish - chicken is a reasonably apt comparison for the texture. Tuna or swordfish for the flavour?- perhaps with a slight shellfishy sweetness that one might normally associate with crab, ---
**Author:** ![Cicero](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cicero/32/3594_2.png) [@Cicero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cicero)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2010, 1:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-eel-taste-like/535619/3 "2010-04-10T13:25:04Z")
I’m with **Mangetout** but it is many years ago that I tried it. Also, I ate fresh water eels so maybe their salt water cousins could have a different taste. ---
**Author:** ![ToeJam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/dfb087/32.png) [@ToeJam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ToeJam)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2010, 1:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-eel-taste-like/535619/4 "2010-04-10T13:29:18Z")
For me it depends a lot on the sauce, but I would have to say tastes like chicken, but feels like calamari at times with it being chewy and slender the way it feels when you bite into it. ---
**Author:** ![Napier](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ce73a5/32.png) [@Napier](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Napier)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2010, 1:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-eel-taste-like/535619/5 "2010-04-10T13:30:05Z")
What I’ve had tasted like sea scallop, and was in the same form too. I read somewhere that eel is sometimes sold as more expensive sea scallops. ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2010, 2:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-eel-taste-like/535619/6 "2010-04-10T14:30:05Z")
Moved IMHO --\> Cafe Society ---
**Author:** ![casdave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c6cbf5/32.png) [@casdave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/casdave)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2010, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-eel-taste-like/535619/7 "2010-04-10T15:15:57Z")
You need to take them out of the container before eating, or they will taste a bit like a hovercraft. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2010, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-eel-taste-like/535619/8 "2010-04-10T16:23:41Z")
Another “it tastes like chicken”- or like frog legs actually. It’s also very very boney. Quite good though. Completely unsolicited trivia: King John of England died from food poisoning after eating eels. They probably were the exception though, and could well have had help getting poisoned. ---
**Author:** ![JKilez](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e5b9ba/32.png) [@JKilez](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKilez)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2010, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-eel-taste-like/535619/9 "2010-04-10T19:04:06Z")
I guess it has already been covered, but I cannot help but repeat: it tastes just like wasabi and soy sauce. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2010, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-eel-taste-like/535619/10 "2010-04-10T20:34:36Z")
The only time I’ve ever had it, it tasted mostly like the barbecue sauce that was on it, but it was more like chicken-with-BBQ-sauce than like most other things with BBQ sauce. ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2010, 11:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-eel-taste-like/535619/11 "2010-04-10T23:44:38Z")
> [@Sinisterniik](#): > > So as I masticated my naked unagi I saw what you did there, but you didn’t shock me, ha ha! ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2010, 12:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-eel-taste-like/535619/12 "2010-04-11T00:00:49Z")
It’s eeeeeeeeee-licious! [sub]sorry, sorry![/sub] ---
**Author:** ![Oslo\_Ostragoth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/a9a28c/32.png) [@Oslo\_Ostragoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oslo_Ostragoth)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2010, 6:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-eel-taste-like/535619/13 "2010-04-11T06:23:07Z")
Is eel sold raw? I have only had it roasted with sauce. ---
**Author:** ![Autolycus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/22d042/32.png) [@Autolycus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Autolycus)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2010, 8:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-eel-taste-like/535619/14 "2010-04-12T08:08:52Z")
Unagi tastes like sausage to me. ---
**Author:** ![Surly\_Chick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ec9cab/32.png) [@Surly\_Chick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Surly_Chick)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2010, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-eel-taste-like/535619/15 "2010-04-12T17:20:42Z")
I’ve only had the smoked unagi version of eel. It tastes vaguely chickenish to me. ---
**Author:** ![california\_jobcase](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9d8465/32.png) [@california\_jobcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/california_jobcase)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2010, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-eel-taste-like/535619/16 "2010-04-12T21:17:26Z")
I’ve caught and eaten several here in S. GA- They tasted like catfish, only longer. ---
**Author:** ![Oslo\_Ostragoth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/a9a28c/32.png) [@Oslo\_Ostragoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oslo_Ostragoth)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2010, 4:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-eel-taste-like/535619/17 "2010-04-14T04:47:12Z")
> [@Oslo\_Ostragoth](#): > > Is eel sold raw? I have only had it roasted with sauce. The sushi version, that is. I love it. ---
**Author:** ![ProfessorX](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ce7236/32.png) [@ProfessorX](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ProfessorX)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2010, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-eel-taste-like/535619/18 "2010-04-14T20:36:27Z")
Chicken/Tuna is a good one. Has a tuna type of flavor but “feels” like you’re eating chicken.