[Sca-cooks] Hot weather drink
Johnna Holloway
johnnae at mac.com
Mon Jul 28 13:47:37 PDT 2008
For today's contribution to the silly season from Johnnae
the AP is carrying this story:
Heat got to you? Then drink an eel
Eel drink for Japan's hot summer
TOKYO (AP) — It's the hottest season of the year in Japan, and that
means it's eel season. So, bottom's up!
A canned drink called "Unagi Nobori," or "Surging Eel," made by Japan
Tobacco Inc., hit the nation's stores this month just ahead of Japan's
annual eel-eating season, company spokesman Kazunori Hayashi said Monday.
"It's mainly for men who are exhausted by the summer's heat," Hayashi
said of the beverage, believed to be the first mass-produced eel drink
in Japan.
Many Japanese believe eating eel boosts stamina in hot weather.
The fizzy, yellow-colored drink contains extracts from the head and
bones of eel and five vitamins — A, B1, B2, D and E — contained in the fish.
The Japanese particularly like to eat eel on traditional eel days, which
fall on July 24 and Aug. 5 this year.
Demand for eel is so high that Japan has been hit by scores of eel fraud
cases, including a recent high-profile incident in which a government
ministry publicly scolded two companies for mislabeling eel imported
from China as being domestically grown.
The eel involved in recent scandals was prepared in a popular
"kaba-yaki" style, in which it is broiled and covered with a sweet
sauce. The $1.30 drink costs about one-tenth as much as broiled eel, but
has a similar flavor.
Eel extract is also used in cookies and pies made in Japan's biggest eel
producing town, Hamamatsu.
http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5iD8hGmf_-339xNsa-hkB_uqZKLcAD926PJK00
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,392183,00.html
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