Eel Nutrition Calculator — Calories & Nutrition per Serving

Raw eel delivers 1,043mcg retinol (vitamin A RAE) per 100g — 116% of the daily value ^[1]. This is not beta-carotene that requires conversion; it's preformed retinol, the directly usable form. Among common fish, only eel approaches this level — salmon has 12mcg, tuna has 18mcg, and cod has 12mcg per 100g.

A single 3-oz fillet (85g raw) provides 886mcg vitamin A (98% DV) ^[1]. Grilled eel retains most of this at 1,137mcg per 100g (126% DV), as vitamin A is fat-soluble and stable during cooking at normal temperatures.

Research on wild and cultured eel (Anguilla bicolor) has confirmed that vitamin A concentrations are consistently high across eel species, with the liver containing even higher concentrations. The high retinol content comes from eel's diet of small crustaceans and fish larvae, which are rich in preformed vitamin A ^[2].

Raw eel provides 23.3mcg vitamin D per 100g — 117% of the daily value (15mcg) ^[1]. Only wild-caught salmon (14.7mcg) and fortified foods approach this level among items people commonly eat. A single 3-oz raw serving delivers 19.8mcg — 99% DV, essentially a full day's requirement.

The vitamin D in eel is in the D3 (cholecalciferol) form — the same form the skin synthesizes from sunlight, and the form with superior bioavailability compared to the D2 (ergocalciferol) used in many plant-based fortified foods ^[1].

Even after grilling, eel retains the full 23.3mcg vitamin D per 100g — vitamin D is heat-stable and fat-soluble, so it remains embedded in the eel's fat matrix during dry-heat cooking. This makes grilled eel (unagi) one of the most reliable dietary vitamin D sources available ^[2].

Plain grilled eel has 236 kcal, 0g carbs, and 65mg sodium per 100g ^[1]. Unagi kabayaki — the same eel glazed with tare sauce (soy sauce, mirin, sugar, sake) — jumps to 293 kcal, 15g carbs, and 650mg sodium per 100g. The glaze adds 57 kcal and 585mg sodium to every 100g of eel.

Each tablespoon of unagi tare sauce (18g) adds approximately 35 kcal, 8g carbs (6g sugar), and 320mg sodium ^[1]. A typical kabayaki serving is glazed 2-3 times during grilling, receiving approximately 2-3 tablespoons of sauce. This transforms eel from a zero-carb protein into a dish with significant sugar and sodium.

For unadon (unagi over rice), the complete bowl contains approximately 535 kcal — 293 from glazed eel (100g) plus 242 from sushi rice (185g). Tracking the eel and rice separately gives more accuracy than estimating the whole bowl, since restaurants vary widely in their eel-to-rice ratio ^[1].

Raw eel has 11.7g total fat per 100g, making it one of the fattiest fish ^[1]. But the fat composition reveals why this isn't a concern: 7.2g is monounsaturated (the same fatty acid dominant in olive oil and avocados), 0.95g is polyunsaturated (including 0.65g omega-3), and only 2.4g is saturated.

The monounsaturated-to-saturated fat ratio in eel is 3.0:1 — higher than most fish and comparable to olive oil (5:1). Salmon, by comparison, has a ratio of approximately 1.5:1. Eel's fat profile is uniquely favorable among high-fat fish ^[1].

Grilled eel concentrates fat to 15.0g per 100g as water evaporates, but the ratio remains the same ^[1]. Smoked eel reaches 27.8g fat per 100g because the smoking process further dehydrates the tissue. The absolute fat numbers look high, but the fatty acid composition is consistently dominated by monounsaturated fats ^[2].

Eel's calorie progression across preparations tells a clear story: 184 kcal (raw) → 236 kcal (grilled) → 293 kcal (kabayaki) → 330 kcal (smoked) per 100g ^[1]. Each step adds calories through a different mechanism.

Raw to grilled (+52 kcal): pure water loss concentrates existing nutrients — the same piece has the same calories, but weighs less. Grilled to kabayaki (+57 kcal): the tare sauce adds carbohydrates and sugar that don't exist in the eel. Grilled to smoked (+94 kcal): extreme dehydration concentrates fat dramatically, and smoked eel often has added oil ^[1].

For accurate tracking: raw weight × 0.78 = approximate grilled weight. If you weigh a grilled eel piece at 85g, it started at approximately 109g raw. Use the grilled values (236 kcal/100g) for the cooked weight, not the raw values — applying raw values to cooked weight would undercount by about 22% ^[2].