July 23rd is a special day for unagi-obsessed people like me. It's not a public holiday nor an anniversary of any sort.
It's a day that Japanese people eat Unagi. Yes, we have a day to eat Unagi, and it's called "Doyo-No-Ushi."
Unagi restaurants would decorate their shops with banners and posters. Supermarkets will have campaigns and dedicate sizable shelf space for the Unagi.
You can even see this happening in Singapore, at supermarkets such as DonDonDonki!
The funny thing is that probably 90% of Japanese wouldn't confidently know what this "Doyo-no-Ushi" means or why they eat Unagi on the day!
I'll cover some of the interesting facts about this favorite food of mine.
Winter is the best time for Unagi, not Summer!
The downright wacky thing about the "Doyo-no-Ushi," is that summer is not the best season for the food!
The best season for naturally grown Unagi is between October and December. It's more towards the end of fall and early winter!
Unagi also hibernate. They prepare for hibernation by storing fat and getting plump. Eating Unagi at this time is when they taste the best.
Now, most Unagi is not natural in the modern days. They are captured as babies but are grown on eel farms. The producers adjust the tasty peak timing of the Unagi to best serve the high demand in the summer. You can rest assured you can enjoy great eel during "Doyo-no-Ushi."
But this is after eating Unagi in the summer became popular. Why did eating Unagi in the summer even become a thing?
It started as a Poem and Turned into a Successful Marketing Campaign.
It's believed that the Japanese ate Unagi in the summertime for over 1000 years!
"The Manyoshu" is the most ancient anthology of Japanese poems, assembled in 759. The work compiles 4496 poems, mainly in the form of "Tanka, " a short and uniquely structured Japanese poem format.
This literature has a monumental historical significance in Japan.
In one of the poems, there is one that writes about Unagi. The author was writing to a person losing weight in the hot summer that he should eat Unagi.
We can see from this that summer Unagi is a practice from quite back in time.
But why must it be the day of the "Doyo-no-Ushi?".
There are several theories to this mystery. However, according to the most prominent stories, the "Doyo-no-Ushi" came about as a highly successful marketing campaign.
In a sense, it's similar to Valentine's day.
It was meant to boost Unagi's demand to increase the sales of struggling unagi restaurants back in the Edo period.
Currently, it has become a solid part of Japanese culture.
The Japanese summer energy food
Eating Unagi in the summer also makes sense from a nutritional perspective. It's a superfood loaded with nutrients!
It's a great source of vitamins such as Vitamin A, Vitamin B1, Vitamin B2, Vitamin D, and Vitamin E. Needless to say, there are myriads of health benefits behind these vitamins, including providing an energy boost to persevere through the hot summer days!
They are a fantastic source of DHA and EPA, which are precious long-chain omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids that we can't naturally produce in our bodies.
It is also a great way of charging your body with minerals such as Zinc and Calcium.
It truly is a natural energy drink of old!
What is "Doyo"? What is "Ushi"? What the heck... what is "No"?
Let's dive into the name of "Doyo-no-Ushi." I'm sure something that the average Japanese may not necessarily know.
First of all, these are calendar concepts coming from the lunar calendar.
The "Doyo" is the 18 to 19 days between the different seasons. They are its transitional stages.
The "Doyo" of the "Doyo No Ushi" is about the transition period from Summer to Autumn. This period is when the extreme heat of the long summer has accumulated, and the body becomes completely exhausted.
The "Ushi" is the zodiac character "Ox."
You may be familiar with years having zodiac characters. In the lunar calendar concept, the days also have the same zodiac characters!
So the "Doyo no Ushi" is the "Day of the Ox of the end of Summer."
You probably know more than the average Japanese now!
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