Japanese energy drink has eel power
Tokyo ? It’s the hottest time 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 Thursday and Aug. 5 this year.
Eel extract is also used in cookies and pies made in Japan’s biggest eel producing town, Hamamatsu.