Shipments of grilled eel are in full swing at a factory in southwestern Japan ahead of the day when people traditionally eat the fish to maintain their stamina in the summer heat.
This year, the Day of the Ox marking midsummer falls on next Wednesday.
About 100 employees are grilling up to 30,000 eels a day at the food-processing factory in Satsumasendai City, Kagoshima Prefecture. The daily shipments can reach nearly 6 tons.
Over half the eels come from the prefecture, which is Japan’s top producer of farmed eels, helped by its warm weather and rich groundwater.
Live eels are put in ice to stop them moving before being sliced but there are regional variations. In the Kanto region of eastern Japan, the fish is cut open from the back. The Kansai and Kyushu regions in western through southwestern Japan prefer cutting from the belly.
Eel fillets are grilled alternately using an electric heater and gas, before being sprayed with steam as hot as 300 degrees Celsius. They are then dipped in a sauce and grilled. This process is repeated four times. The cooked eels are quickly frozen at a temperature of minus 40 degrees Celsius before being packed.
A sales manager of the eel-processing company said the employees are producing top quality eels, and he hopes consumers will eat the delicacy to beat the summer heat.
The eels will be delivered to markets across Japan for the Day of the Ox.