Minoru Saba@catrionagold Japanese eel is mostly farmed, but mainly depends on catching at sea natural eel larvae whose numbers have been declining drastically, thus grilled eel has become too expensive for casual dining.
So people came up with passable substitutes such as eggplant and Nissin's plant-based "nazo unagi".
cf. Vegan Unagi Don (Eggplant ‘Unagi’ ): https://www.okonomikitchen.com/vegan-unagi-don/
Full-cycle aquaculture has been achieved, but costs are still too high.
https://www.asahi.com/ajw/articles/15047625
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