Stewed eggplant なすびの含め煮

As you know, eggplant and oil are a good combination．Eggplant parmesan is a good example--the eggplant absorbs a good amount of olive oil while being fried. Of course, modified recipes that try to reduce the amount of oil by baking the eggplant first instead of frying it are also popular.

Even in Japan, a classic recipe for stewed eggplant uses a technique called  "age-bitashi" 揚げ浸し. The eggplant is first deep fried and then simmered in a seasoning liquid. Although this produces an excellent eggplant dish, eggplants are like a sponge and absorb a large amount of oil.  So I made some modifications to take control of the amount of oil. Japanese eggplants (many different kinds of eggplant are available in Japan), are not readily available here. I do not particularly like the long slender and light purple "Asian" or "Chinese" eggplants. So I tend to use either small Italian eggplant or Zebra eggplant for Japanese-style eggplant dishes. 

Zebra eggplant version: I saw some nice looking small Zebra eggplants at the store the other day and decided to make this dish. 

I used Zebra eggplants (two, medium sized). I removed the stem end and halved them along the long axis. I made criss-cross shallow cuts on the skin and soaked them in water for a few minutes. I removed the moisture using a paper towel by lightly squeezing them. In a skillet large enough to hold 4 halves of the eggplant comfortably, I added light olive oil (2 tbs) and dark sesame oil (1 tsp). On medium flame, I fried the eggplant halves (the cut surfaces only, I did not bother with the skin side) for several minutes until most of the oil was absorbed. In the same pan, I added dashi (300 ml). I made dashi from a Dashi pack, mirin (2 tbs), sake (2 tbs), soy sauce (3 tbs) and sugar (1 tbs). I tasted the seasoning liquid and adjusted the amount of soy sauce and mirin. I also added several thin slices of ginger and a small amount of red pepper flakes for mild heat. I put on an otoshi-buta and simmered it for 30 minutes. I let it cool down in the broth and served it at room temperature with a garnish of scallion threads (shiraga-negi 白髪葱 and very thin juliennes of ginger hari-shouga 針ショウガ (both soaked in water for 10-11 minutes to make them milder). This tasted very good and had just enough oil to make it unctuous. the red pepper gave it a mild but pleasant zing. The meat of the eggplant was very soft and absorbed the nice gentle flavors of the broth and the skin was very tender (because of the scoring before stewing). The next day, I served it cold and it was even better. The only problem was the color, the Zebra pattern was all gone and looked gray and a bit unappetizing.

Italian eggplant version: So a few days later I made the dish using small Italian eggplant in the exactly same way.

This one tasted the same and was excellent. In addition, it retained a nice color. I added baby bok choy, quartered, cooked for the last 5 minutes in the same broth as the eggplants.

You could control the amount of oil being absorbed by the eggplants this way but the tastes and texture were as good as a classic deep fried "age-bitashi" eggplant dish. This dish goes well with any drink but, again, we went for cold sake.

Eggplant Gratin with Cold Eggplant Soup 茄子のグラタンと冷製スープ

These are other eggplant dishes I made from Asian eggplant from Wee. Each dish used one eggplant so in total I used two of the 4 eggplants I bought. The first dish which is “eggplant au-gratin with meat sauce”  was perfect since it would use up a number of ingredients I had on hand. I had the marinara sauce I made some time ago but kept from going bad by reheating it. I also had 1/4 lb of ground chicken to use. I also had some skinned Campari tomatoes which were getting old. All these would be used in this dish (shown in the picture below on the left). Under the melting cheese and the meat sauce are the chunks of eggplant. This was a really good combination.  The second dish was cold eggplant soup which again was perfect since we like cold soup for lunch (shown in the picture on the right). So this was a lunch we had one day.

The hot eggplant au-gratin went well with the cold eggplant soup. There is not really a recipe since it was mostly left-over control.

Directions for the eggplant au-gratin:
I cut up the skinned Campari tomatoes (3 or 4) cooked with minced garlic in olive oil and seasoned it with salt, pepper, dried oregano and basil. I then added the ground chicken and cooked it completely. Finally, I added the left-over marinara sauce to heat through.

I used one Asian eggplant. I peeled off stripes of the skin, (so the eggplant wouldn’t explode while being cooked in the microwave), placed it in a silicon container and microwaved it for 2-3 minutes or until it became soft and cooked through. I cut it into bit-size chunks (#1), layered it with the meat sauce (#2), put the grated cheeses on top (we used sharp cheddar and smoked gouda) and baked at 350F toaster oven for 30 minutes (#4).

Directions for cold eggplant soup is also not really a recipe (made two small servings)
One Asian eggplant, stem end removed and peeled. Cut in half lengthwise and then cut into thin half moon. I placed the eggplant and chicken broth (I used Swanson brand low salt low fat) in a pan just enough to completely cover the eggplant then cooked it for 10-15 minutes. I added salt and pureed it using the immersion blender.

I served it chilled and diluted slightly with cold milk (or cream to your liking).

Both are pretty simple and good dishes. The eggplant added a meat-like texture and umami taste to the au-gratin that blended with the ground chicken in the tomato meat sauce. And what wouldn’t taste good topped with a mixture of toasted cheese? The soup was very subtle but went well with its cousin eggplant in the au-gratin. This was a perfect combo for our lunch.

Grilled egg plant 焼き茄子

In Japan, you can get such nice and fresh vegetables, including cucumbers and eggplants, much more easily than in the U.S.. There are several kinds of Japanese eggplants; some can be even eaten raw ("water eggplant" or "Mizunasu" 水茄子). I like "Kamonasu" 賀茂茄子, famous for being used in Kyoto cuisines. You can not get these easily in the U.S.. The kind of eggplants we can get here are limited to mostly Western varieties. Occasionally, what they call a "Japanese" eggplant is available (a light purple and small elongated kind) but I do not recall seeing similar eggplants in Japan. I tend to use small Italian eggplant and Zebra eggplant for my Japanese style cooking but, sometimes, it does not work out. Simply grilled Japanese eggplant, "yakinasu" 焼き茄子 is wonderful if the eggplant is good. I found a small (baby) Italian eggplant which looked very good but bought only one, because the last time I tried to make this from Italian eggplants, it was pretty bad. I am sure, because  I only got one this time, it turned out pretty good and I wish I had bought more.

Before grilling, I just prick the skin of the eggplant all over with the tines of a fork or a tip of a bamboo skewer to prevent from the eggplant from exploding (This happened once in our Weber grill. We heard a big "bong" noise. A small puff of ash came out the bottom vents of the grill. Upon investigation we found the meat of the eggplant spread all over the inside of the lid. Nothing was left on the grill except for few fragments of the charred skin.) After 15 minutes or so, the eggplant is thoroughly cooked (turn several times during the cooking) and soft as seen below. Make sure the eggplant is completely cooked. Using chopsticks or tongs, peel off the skin holding the cap while it is hot. Using a small knife or a bamboo skewer, cut the eggplant along the long axis (you can plant the skewer in the meat near the cap and then grab the cap and pull the skewer through). repeat this a few times to make long strands of eggplant. Cut at the cap but I keep the cap for presentation. I garnish with dried bonito flakes and chiffonade of perilla. As a seasoning, I can use just soy sauce but I happened to make my dipping sauce for other dishes we had (dashi 2 parts, mirin 1 part and soy sauce 2 parts) so I used my dipping sauce.

Eggplant is almost done along side potatoes which are being grilled for "Jagabata" or potato with butter.

Kamo eggplant with pork miso stuffing 賀茂茄子の肉味噌詰め

The other day, I found a round Japanese eggplant at our Japanese grocery store. This was either Kamo-nasu 加茂茄子 or Mizu-nasu 水茄子  but it had no label. I asked the cashier and was told it was "Kamo-nasu". Kamo-nasu is often used in Kyoto cuisine 京都料理 and has a nice firm flesh. Dengaku 田楽 is the most common way to serve this vegetable. (While I am writing this I realized I never posted eggplant "dengaku". When I made this, I thought I must have already posted the usual miso-dengaku and decided to make this variation using pork meat).

It is miso flavored but I also added ground pork and white sesame paste. I garnished it with roasted white sesame seeds.

I served this one evening with pork belly "Kakuni" 豚の角煮 I made recently.

Ingredients:
One Kamo-nasu (#1) (or you can use regular American eggplant), cut into four disks after removing the skin in an alternate pattern. I removed some of the flesh of the eggplant to make space for the stuffing (#2).
Light olive oil, as need, to bake the eggplant (or you could deep fry).

For stuffing:
1/4 lb of ground pork (I used trimming from pork tenderloins and hand chopped)
1/4 tsp finely chopped ginger
1/4 tsp finely chopped garlic
2 tbs miso (I used white miso)
2 tbs mirin
2 tbs sake
1 tsp roasted white sesame paste "nerigoma" 練りゴマ.
1/2 tsp of dark roasted sesame oil
1 tsp vegetable oil
Finely chopped flesh removed from the eggplant as discussed above.
1 tsp potato starch slurry (potato starch and sake in equal amount)

Directions:
For eggplant,
I decided to bake rather than either cook in a frying pan with oil or deep fry.
I lined the baking sheet with aluminum foil and coated with the olive oil.
I painted all the surfaces of the eggplant slices with the oil and baked at 350F for 30 minutes in the toaster oven (convection mode) (#3 and 4 above).

For stuffing:
In a non-stick frying pan, I added the vegetable and sesame oil on low flame and sautéed the ginger and garlic until fragrant. I added the finely diced flesh of eggplant, pork and turned up the flame and cooked the meat until cooked and separated.
I first loosened the miso with sake and mirin by adding the liquid in increments while mixing in a separate container. I added the sugar and mixed well. (If the consistency was not liquid enough, add water or more sake).
I added the sauce into the cooked meat mixture and cooked until the liquid was reduced in half about 10 minutes.
I added the sesame paste and a splash of sesame oil and mixed well.
I tasted the stuffing (you can adjust sweetness by adding more sugar or mirin at this point).
I finished with the potato starch slurry to thicken the stuffing. Make sure to cook for about one minute before cutting off the flame.

Assembly:
I kept both the baked eggplant and the stuffing in the refrigerator until just before serving.
I layered the miso-pork stuffing on the top of the eggplant slices and placed in a preheated 350F toaster oven for 15 minutes or until warmed up completely.
I garnished with sesame seeds and served hot.

This was very good. The eggplant was soft and sweet which was well complemented by the ginger miso and pork flavors of the stuffing. The only problem was the skin of the eggplant--it was tough. I could probably leave the skin alone rather than making an alternate peeling pattern since we had to remove the skin to eat the eggplant anyway. This combination of the pork belly dish and the miso-pork stuffing dish went very well together.

Eggplant gratine two ways; Marinara and Yuzu-miso sauce with cheese

Last time we had a chance to grill outside, I grilled a small Italian eggplant trying to make "yakinasu"  やきなす or Japanese style grilled eggplant but it was not really good. So, when I saw a nice Zebra eggplant in the market, I had to get one. Since It was not feasible to fire-up a grill outside, I asked my wife how she like the eggplant cooked. I got a bit ambiguous answer. So I decided to halve the eggplant and make one in an Italian style with Marinara sauce and cheese and the other half in a Japanese style i.e., "citrus miso dengaku" with cheese, so that I can not go wrong.

I cooked the eggplant in my usual way. I cut the eggplant in half length wise. Then I cut the meat around the edges close to the skin and in cross-hatch pattern but not cutting through to the skin (This is hasten and make cooking uniform). I put about 2 tbs of light olive oil in a frying pan on a medium flame. When the oil is hot and shimmering, I put in the eggplant the cut side down. The eggplant eventually absorbs all the oil. After 1-2 minutes, I put on the tightly fitting lid and turned down the flame to low and let it cook about 10 minutes. The eggplant should be soft and thoroughly cooked with the cut surface nicely brown. I transferred the eggplant halves to a baking sheet (or ramekin) and layered one with Marinara sauce and the other with Yuzu-citrus miso. Then I topped them with grated cheese (I used a mixture of Cheddar and Raclette here but any melting cheese will do) and put them in a 400F oven (I used a toaster oven) for 5 minutes or until the cheese melts.

Marinara sauce: I placed olive oil (1/4 cup), 3-4 cloves of garlic (minced), and red pepper flakes (optional), in a small deep pot on a low flame. When the garlic became fragrant,  I added canned whole tomato, drained and crushed (16 oz can), dried oregano and basil (1/2 tsp, each), salt and freshly ground black pepper. I simmered this sauce for 30 minutes. I tasted and adjusted the salt and pepper. You may want to add a pinch of sugar to cut the acidity.

Yuzu-miso sauce: Mix red miso (3 tbs), sugar (2tbs), and mirin (3 tbs) in a small sauce pan on a low flame. Keep stirring until nice thin saucy consistency is attained (about 5 minutes). I added 1 tsp of dark roasted sesame oil (optional) at the end and mix well. Off heat, I add Yuzu juice (from a bottle) (1 tsp) and zest of one lime (using a micrograter) or just lime or lemon juice and zest.

In the above picture, on the left is the eggplant with Marinara sauce and on the right is the one with Yuzu-miso sauce. I garnished the Yuzu-miso eggplant with the zest of a lime and, if I had fresh basil, I would have garnished the marinara sauce side with chopped basil. You can have this with wine, beer or sake. We had this with Poggio Il Castellare Sant Antimo Cervio Cabernet Sauvignon 2007, which taste  more like California cab rather than Super Tuscan, but it went very well with this dish nonetheless.

Deep fried egg plant in broth なすの揚げ浸し

Deep fried eggplant in Dashi Marinade  なすの揚げ浸し

(Based on the recipe in Mark's book p64)

This is one of the classic Japanese dishes--"Age-bitashi" 揚げ浸し meaning "fried and soaked". It is a very common Japanese cooking technique in which the ingredient is first deep fried and, while it is hot, soaked in a seasoned broth (aside from the usual soy sauce flavor, sometimes with added vinegar and/or hot pepper). Mark's book has this dish (p64), I only substituted green beans for the small Japanese green peppers "shishito" since I did not have "shishito". In the U.S., the types of eggplant "nasubi" 茄子 available are quite different from those in Japan. So called American eggplant "bei-nasu" 米茄子 is good for baked dishes such as eggplant parmesan or moussaka but not for this dish. I use a smaller eggplant with a thiner skin. Chinese or Japanese (elongated light or dark purple), or small Italian eggplants work best.

Here I used a medium-sized light purple striped eggplant called "graffiti" eggplant. In any case, I cut the eggplant into 1x1 inch size pieces and then made shallow criss-crossing scores on the skin (hatch marks). This makes the skin more palatable and allows the broth to soak in better. I sprinkled the pieces with a small amount of salt and placed them in a colander for 15 minute. I then wiped the surface with paper towels to remove the salt and moisture. Meanwhile, I trimmed both ends of the green beans (10-15 or whatever amount) and wiped the surface dry with a paper towel.

I made the broth from a commercial concentrated noodle broth in a bottle but, of course, you could make this from scratch according to the recipe in Mark's book. I diluted the concentrate to taste (slightly stronger than that for broth for noodles, i.e., for the x2 concentrate, I diluted to x1.5) with cold water and then warmed it up and set aside in a flat sealable container.

I heated the peanut oil in a pan to about 340F (170C). I made sure both green beans and eggplant were dry (using paper towels) to prevent spattering when they were put into the hot oil. I fried the green beans first for 1 minute and put them on a paper towel to drain and the put them in the broth. Next, I fried the eggplant. Skin side down first then turned them over several times for 4-5 minutes until the meat of the eggplant becomes slightly brown and cooked through. I drained the eggplant on a paper towel and placed them in a colander. I poured hot water over them to remove excess oil. Then, I put the eggplant in the broth with the green beans. I let it cool down to room temperature and then put  into the refrigerator. It is best to leave it for at least 30 minutes or overnight before serving.

This dish has subtle flavors but the eggplant is very rich and has a nice soft texture. This is a very nice dish with sake.

Eggplant gyoza 茄子餃子

Last weekend I made gyoza 餃子. As usual, I used the trimmings from pork tenderloin. I made up a batch using wonton skins but I had more gyoza stuffing leftover. Then, I saw a Japanese recipe using thin slices of eggplant instead of Wonton or Gyoza skin. Since I happened to have a Japanese eggplant (one we can get here is a small diameter elongated eggplant. I only rarely see the other varieties of eggplant available in Japan such as "Kamo-nasu" 賀茂茄子 or "Mizu-nasu" 水茄子).  So, I made gyoza with this eggplant. A small amount of gyoza stuffing still remained after I made this dish so I stuffed a fresh shiitake mushroom to finish it up. I served this with some veggies as a starter one evening.

Since only enough leftover stuffing for one shiitake mushroom, I served three eggplant gyoza and half each of the shiitake gyoza. The veggies are sliced cucumber dressed in sushi vinegar 胡瓜の酢の物, skinned Campari tomato with sesame dressing トマトの胡麻和え, braised crunchy cauliflower モンパルナスのカリフラワー and sugar snap in salt broth スナップ豌豆の塩びたし.

Ingredients:

Gyoza stuffing is my usual. Hand chopped pork tenderloins trimmings, boiled and chopped cabbage, chopped scallions, garlic, ginger, seasoned with sesame oil, salt, and soy sauce. As I mentioned this was the leftovers after making regular gyoza.
One Japanese eggplant (one with small diameter and very long),
Potato starch (Katakuri-ko 片栗粉).
Peanut oils and sesame oil for frying

Directions:
Skin the eggplant using a peeler on both sides lengthwise, cut crosswise into 2 inch long pieces and then slice lengthwise into 3mm thick pieces and soak in about 5% salted water (#1) until the eggplant pieces get soft/limp (It took more that 30 minutes).
Drain in a colander and press using the back of a ladle to press out excess moisture and line them up on paper towels (#2) and press with another sheet of paper towel to blot.
Sprinkle potato starch or Katakuri-ko (#3)
Wrap the gyoza stuffing by folding the eggplant in half (#4).
Since I still had some gyoza stuffing left, I stuffed one fresh shiitake mushroom (#5)
Add 1tbs peanut oil and splashes of dark sesame oil in a frying pan on medium flame and place in the eggplant gyoza (#6).
After a few minutes when the eggplant is browned, turn it over and put on the lid for several minutes and finish with the lid off for 1 more minute (#8).

This time, the stuffing was well-seasoned and did not need any dipping sauce. This is not bad but both my wife and I prefer regular gyoza. We both missed the lovely crunch of the crispy wonton skin.

Boiled eggplant in black sesame vinegar dressing ゆでナスのゴマ酢和え

After I made eggplant gyoza,  I had one more Japanese eggplant left. I often make “age-bitashi” 揚げ浸し from eggplant (of course eggplant and oil go together well in either Western or Japanese-style dishes).  But this time I wanted to make something different. I found a recipe (in Japanese) which does not involve frying. The dressing was also very interesting. The recipe said this tastes good either warm or cold. I made this dish in the morning and served it cold in the evening as an appetizer with cold sake. I served a rather small amount in these small covered Japanese bowls we got in Kyoto many years ago.

Open the lids and we have boiled eggplant slices dressed in roasted black sesame sauce.

The dressing really made this dish. The eggplant was a bit bitter/astringent initially when I tasted it warm but after refrigeration, it calmed down.

Ingredients:
One Japanese eggplant, stem end removed, cut in half lengthwise wise, then cut in to 1/4 inch half moon shape crosswise, soaked in cold water.

Dressing:
2 tbs black sesame, roasted (I dry roasted again in a frying pan), ground in a Japanese mortar  (suribachi すり鉢)
1.5 tbs sweet vinegar 甘酢 (1 part rice vinegar, 0.5 part sugar and a pinch of salt, heated to dissolve)
2 tsp soy sauce

Directions:
Drain the water the egg plant soaked in. Bring fresh water to the boil, add the eggplant and when the water comes back to the boil keep cooking for 1 more minute.
Drain in a colander and press the eggplant with the back of a ladle to remove any excess water.
Mix the warm eggplant into the dressing.


When I tasted it warm, the eggplant had a slight bitterness/astringency or “egumi” えぐみ in Japanese but when I served it cold in the evening, most of those tastes were gone. The dressing really makes it. This is a good alternative way of using eggplant without using oil.

Cold Marinated Eggplant 冷製レンジなすのポン酢漬け

We recently got Japanese (or Asian) eggplant from Weee. Although  I posted quite a few dishes using eggplant, we have not had eggplant for a long time. We really love “grilled eggplant” or Yakinasu 焼きなす, it requires a charcoal fire to make it correctly, however. I decided to take a short cut and cook the eggplant in the microwave oven. I then marinated the cooked eggplant (see below) overnight in the refrigerator.

Just before serving, I topped it with “katusobushi” 鰹節 bonito flakes. This is very easy to make and tasted pretty good. This is loosely based on a recipe I read on line sometime ago but I could not find the original recipe so I made the dish from memory.

Ingredients:
One Japanese eggplant (picture below).
3 tbs ponzu shouyu ポン酢醤油
1/2 tbs or more to taste, x4 concentrated Japanese noodle sauce
1/4 tsp dark sesame oil
2 stalks of scallion, finely chopped

Directions:
First make the marinade mixing the ponzu, noodle sauce, sesame oil and scallion.
Cut off the stem end of the egg plant and peel the skin
Since it was too long to fit into the silicon microwave container, I cut it into two pieces and microwaved it 2-2.5 minutes until cooked and soft (in the picture below, I made the indentation when I pressed it to see if it was done).
I cut the cooked eggplant in to long strips and then cut crosswise into bite sized pieces
I placed the hot eggplant into the marinade
I sealed the container and refrigerated it for a few hours or overnight (I like overnight marination)

Just before serving, top the eggplant with bonito flakes.

This is a very easy to make and tastes pretty good. Its a perfect small appetizer dish to go with sake.

Eggplant “Kabayaki” 茄子の蒲焼

This was the dish I made from the last remaining eggplant I got from Weee. With this dish I finished all the eggplants. I saw this recipe on YouTube. This is easy to make since the initial cooking is done by microwave. Visually it resembles eel kabayaki うなぎの蒲焼. I served this over fresh rice as a small donburi 丼 for “shime” 〆 ending dish one evening. This is quite unique and and a good way to serve eggplant.

Ingredients: (for two small servings)
1 Asian eggplant, stem end removed, peeled, cut into two equal pieces (This was a quite long slender eggplant)
2 tbs light olive oil

For the Kabayaki sauce
2 tbs sake
2 tbs mirin
2 tbs soy sauce
1 tbs sugar

Directions:
Prepare the kabayaki sauce by mixing all the ingredients in a small pan on medium heat and dissolving the sugar.
Cook the eggplant in the microwave using a silicon container for 2 minutes or until cooked through
When cool enough, cut the eggplant lengthwise but do not cut all the way through. Then open it up. You may need to add more parallel cuts (again not all the way through the eggplant) so that it makes flat rectangular pieces.
Add the oil in a frying pan on medium heat and put in the eggplant pieces (see below)

Once one side is nicely browned (2-3 minutes), carefully turn it over without breaking the pieces.

When both sides are nicely browned add the kabayaki sauce to coat the eggplant pieces and the sauce reduces a bit.

Drizzle some of the sauce on the rice and place the eggplant pieces over the rice. I sprinkled powdered “sansho” 粉山椒 Japanese pepper as though this was an eel kabayaki (optional).

Visually it is easy to believe this is really eel. The flavor of the sauce further supports the impression this is eel. Even the texture is very similar. The one thing that is missing, which gives away the fact this is not eel is the unctuous fattiness that is the characteristic essence of eel. Otherwise it is a very good facsimile.

Eggplant Gratiné with meat sauce 茄子のミートソースグラタン

This is not a classic Izakaya food but goes well with red wines or beer if you are having one. I used a medium-sized Italian eggplant for this dish. Again this is a very simple quick dish to make as long as you have a good eggplant. I could have made this with layered slices of eggplant and meat sauce and cheese in a casserole (similar to eggplant parmesan) but it would have taken too much time particularly when we have already opened a bottle of wine.

I cut the eggplant in half lengthwise and scored the meat (cross hatching) taking care not to cut the skin. I salted them lightly and let it stand for 5-10 minutes and the patted dry. I put small amount (1 tbs) of olive oil in a non-stick frying pan and put two halves of the eggplant--the cut surface down, on medium heat. I put on the lid and cooked for 10 minutes (it half steamed) until the eggplant was soft (Cut side should have a nice brown surface).

For the meat sauce, I just cooked ground chicken (leftover from making other dishes) in a frying pan (with olive oil, salt and pepper) and then added my marinara sauce (leftover) and simmered to warm and make sure the chicken is cooked through. Of course, nothing will prevent you from making a more fancy "ragu" or something.

Put the cooked eggplant in the ramekin or gratiné dish which can hold the eggplant snuggly. Pour the meat sauce over and place several slices of Mozzarella cheese on the top and put it in a 450F toaster oven (400F if using a regualr oven) for 10 minutes until cheese has melted and sauce is bubbly. Remove from the oven and grate Parmesan cheese over it, drizzle good olive oil, and garnish with chiffonade of fresh basil. It went well with a bottle of Italian-style (super Tuscan) wine from Washington state "Saggi" 2007.

Eggplant stir fried with sweet miso 茄子の味噌炒め

 This is the eggplant dish I made with the last remaining Japanese (Asian) eggplant we recently got from Hmart (left in the first picture). I served this with bluefish simmered in miso ブルーフィッシュの味噌煮 (right).

Since oil and eggplants go well together, first frying it  in oil and then simmering in sauce is the most usual way of preparing eggplants. That what I did with this dish; the eggplant was first fried and then simmered in the miso flavored sauce. I garnished it with roasted sesame seeds.

This was accompanied by another miso flavored dish; bluefish simmered in miso.

Ingredients for the eggplant (makes about 8 of the small servings in the first picture):
1 Japanese eggplant (this was a big one about 10 inch long), stem end removed, skin peeled in strips and cut into bite sized pieces ("Ran-giri" 乱切り) then soaked in salted water to 10-15 minutes.
2 tsp neutral oil (I used light olive oil) for frying
1 tsp grated ginger root

For miso seasoning (Dissolve the below in a small bowl)
2 tbs sake
2 tsp red miso
2 tsp mirin

Directions:
Sauté the eggplant in a frying pan with the oil on medium flame until the oil is absorbed and the eggplant is soft (few minutes).
Add the ginger and then the seasoning and stir for a few minutes.
I served with white sesame seeds as garnish.

Since oil and eggplant go together well, this is a nice dish but we like the eggplant in seasoned broth 茄子のお浸しbetter. It is easier to make to boot and probably, is healthier since  no oil was used. 

Eggplant Prosciutto and Ham Rolls 茄子の生ハム巻き

I was trying to come up some new eggplant recipes since we still had two large eggplants we got from Weee. I saw two recipes on-line using thinly sliced pork or prosciutto wrapped around a baton shaped piece of eggplant. Actually, these types of roll-ups are very popular in Japan. The most common ones use vegetables such as scallion or asparagus in the center rolled up in various kinds of thinly slices meat. Since we had slices of prosciutto and honey-baked ham, these two recipes inspired me to make roll-ups using batons of eggplant with one kind wrapped in prosciutto and the other with ham. I did not add any sauce as suggested in one of the recipes. This is a good snack-y dish. Salted “umeboshi” plum paste gave a nice salty sour flavor that went well with the eggplant. We definitely liked the prosciutto one best.

Ingredients (made 12 roll-ups):
For salted plum sauce (“bainiku” 梅肉)
Two “umeboshi” 梅干し salted plums, meat removed from the stone, chopped.
1/2 tsp mirin

One asian/Japanese eggplant (long slender one which is not quite a Japanese eggplant), quartered length-wise, then cut across about 2 inch long or the width of the ham and prosciutto.
10 perilla “aojiso” 青紫蘇 leaves
12 slices total of prosciutto and ham.
1 tbs potato starch or “katakuriko”片栗粉
2-3 tbs light olive oil or vegetable oil

Directions:
Place the meat of the salted plum in a Japanese “suribachi” mortar. Add the mirin and grind into a smooth paste (#1)
Spread out a slice of the prosciutto or ham on a cutting board, place the perilla leaf on the ham, smear the plum sauce, place a baton of the eggplant and roll to make 12 roll-ups (#2 and #3).
Thinly coat the surface with potato starch
Seam-side down, fry in a non-stick frying pan with the olive oil in medium heat, turning occasionally to brown all sides (#4). Once all sides are brown, turn the heat down put the lid on, to complete cooking of the eggplant (about 5 more minutes).
Serve hot or re-heated in the toaster oven before serving.

As mentioned before, the ones made with prosciutto were much better largely because the ham didn’t have any flavor. The outside was crispy with some saltiness. The eggplant was creamy, soft and permeated with the major flavors that came from the salted plum paste and the perilla leaves. Very good combination of the textures and flavors. Perfect snack for either sake or wine.

Mapo Eggplant 麻婆茄子

When I stopped by our Japanese grocery store, they had some genuine Japanese eggplants and I got two. I asked my wife what I should make, she requested “Mapo eggplant” 麻婆茄子. In the past I used to make this dish but I do not think I posted the recipe. I made it exactly like Mapotofu 麻婆豆腐 but instead of tofu, I used eggplant. Since I had some chicken thighs, I removed the meat from one of the thighs and hand chopped it into small pieces to use as a protein for this dish. The final dish was mildly spicy with the nice soft texture of eggplant. The chicken really added nice taste and texture. This is great as it is or over rice.

Ingredients:
2 small Japanese egg plants
One chicken thigh, skin and bone removed and chopped in small pieces or ground chicken
2-3 tbs peanut oil and 1 tsp dark sesame oil
1 tbs ginger root, skinned and finely chopped
1 tbs garlic, chopped
1 small shallot, finely chopped
3 stalks of spring onion
1 tsp Doubanjian 豆板醤
1 tsp Tenmenjian 甜麺醤
1/4 cup chicken broth
1/2 tsp potato starch+2tbs sake or water to make potato starch slurries

Directions：
Remove the stem end, peel skin in stripes (to reduce the bitterness the skin may have) and slice into 1/4 inch thick pieces.
Heat up a wok and add 2 tbs peanut oil and 1/2 tsp sesame oil. When the oil is almost smoking, add the eggplant and stir fly until the oil is absorbed and the eggplant slightly browned (see below).
Remove the eggplant from the wok and set aside.

Add 1tbs peanut oil and 1/2 tsp sesame oil in the wok. When the oil is hot, add the shallot, ginger and garlic and stir for few minutes. Add the doubanjian and stir until fragrant for 1 more minute. Add the chicken and stir until cooked (2-3 minutes). Add the eggplant, tenmenjian, chicken broth and mix and cook for a few minutes. Add the spring onion and the potato starch slurry and cook on high flame until the sauce thickens. If desired finish with sesame oil and powdered sansho pepper.

You just can’t beat the taste and texture of Japanese eggplant. This dish was homey and comforting. The eggplant had a soft texture and the chicken added a firm contrast. It is hard to get the right level of spiciness. It can either be too hot or too bland. This version was perfect.

Eggplant Stir-fry with Perilla and Ginger 大葉ナス

Again we got some Japanese groceries delivered from Weee which included some Asian eggplants. Since the delivery included quite a good number of eggplants, I had to come up with a number of different dishes to use them before they go bad. I made this dish which is new to me. I was inspired by looking at a YouTube episode. This was a perfect dish since in addition to eggplant, it uses green perilla which is growing quite well in our herb garden. As usual I treated the recipe as “advisory” and made some modifications. This is slightly sweet due to the oyster sauce and added sugar but it is also somewhat spicy from the ginger. It has a nice perilla taste as well. I think this is good served warm or cold. It’s also another item that goes well with cold sake.

Ingredients:
One asian eggplant (this was a slender long one, which is equivalent to two small Japanese eggplants), cut into quarters lengthwise and then cut on the bias into bite sized pieces.
10 green perilla leaves, finely chopped (left in the picture below).
1 tbs julienne of ginger (center in the picture below).
2 tbs oil (I used light olive oil with a splash of dark sesame oil) (divided 1 tbs each).
1 tbs soy sauce
1 tbs oyster sauce
1 tsp ponzu
1 tbs chicken broth (the original recipe calls for granulated chicken broth or 鶏がらスープの素 which is freeze dried granules of chicken and vegetable broth. This is an ingredient that often appears in Japanese recipes)
2 tsp salt and 1 tbs potato starch (for preparation of the eggplant)

Directions:
Salt the eggplant pieces, mix well and and let it stand for 5 minutes or more (until some moisture comes out)
Wash with cold water to remove excess salt, ring out moisture from the eggplant (left in the picture below), lightly coat with the potato starch

Add the oil to the frying pan on medium flame. When the oil is hot add the eggplant pieces turning until both sides are cooked and browned (3-4 minutes), set it aside (picture below)

Add the remaining oil to the pan on low flame add the ginger and sauté for one minute or until fragrant.
Add the perilla and sauté for one more minute. Add the soy sauce, oyster sauce, chicken broth and mix.
Add back the eggplant and stir and the sauce slightly reduced (1-2 minutes).

This is another flavorful rendition of “eggplant”. I was very careful not to overcook it and have the eggplant dissolve as a result the skin had a slight crunch while the white interior was soft and creamy. It had a surprising bite of hot spiciness which took us a little while to figure out was coming from the ginger. But it added another positive note to the dish.

Lily Bulb with Ikura; Eggplants and Wood Ear in Mustard Dressing 百合根とキクラゲの辛子和え

This is on the theme of multiple small appetizers served in a multi- divided  plate. We got delivery of some Japanese vegetables which included eggplant, lily bulb and wood ear mushroom among other things. I served five appetizers. Two of them are new and are the ones I am presenting here.

Lilly bulb with ikura. This is a very simple but good dish. I separated the lily bulb into individual pieces and briefly boiled them. After they cooled I refrigerated them. I served them as shown below. I just topped each lily bulb cup shaped piece with marinated ikura salmon roe. Due to its simplicity I did not include a formal ingredients and directions section for this dish below. The slightly sweet and mildly crunchy texture of the lily bulb went well with the taste of the marinated ikura.

The picture below shows the eggplant and wood ear mushroom dish. I dressed it in mustard sauce which was slightly spicy, vinegary and sweet. The sauce gave an unexpected but nice bright note to the dish while the texture contrast between the thinly sliced eggplant and crunchy wood ear mushroom was a nice combination.

As mentioned, these were two among the 5 appetizers I served. I made two 5 dish appetizer plates one evening as shown below. (One for myself and one for my wife). The picture shows the two dishes discussed above along with the other three that made up the 5 dish plate.  From left to right are; store bought fish cake warmed in the toaster oven, the eggplant and wood ear dressed in mustard sauce, lily bulb with ikura, eggplant “agebitashi” with mushrooms, and hijiki and fried tofu stir fry.

The eggplant and wood ear dish in mustard sauce (recipe came from eRecipe - in Japanese)

Ingredients:
One Japanese (Asian) eggplant (long slender kind)
Wood ear (I used fresh which was blanched and cooled) if using dried, hydrate and removed the hard parts and blanch it, amount arbitrary

For dressing: (amount all to taste)
Japanese (hot) prepared mustard, amount arbitrary, from tube
Sweet vinegar (this was home-made) or sushi vinegar
Soy sauce

Directions:
Cut the eggplant with stem end removed, in half length-wise and then cut thinly across on the bias
Soak the pieces in cold water for 5-10 minutes, squeeze out water and add salt and knead. Let it stand until some moisture comes out and the slice of the eggplant has wilted
Wash in water and squeeze out the excess water
Cut wood ear into bite sized pieces. If attachment ends are hard, remove them.
In a small bowl, add the eggplants, wood ear and the dressing and mix well

Eggplant in seasoned broth 茄子のお浸し

We got 2 fairly large Japanese (or also called Chinese or Asian) eggplants (long and light purple colored). So, one evening, I made this dish from one of them. This is based on a recipe I found on-line. It was a shortcut recipe since the eggplant was microwaved but it turned out pretty good.

I topped this with dried bonito flakes or "Kezuri-bushi" 削り節.

Ingredients: (makes about 6 small appetizer servings like in the first picture)
One Japanese eggplant (this was large about 10 inch long)

For seasoned broth (mix first two items)
1/4 cup Bonito dashi broth (As usual I made this from a dashi pack).
1/4 cup or "to taste" concentrated Japanese noodle sauce (from the bottle)
Dried bonito flakes for topping.

Directions:
Remove the stem end of the eggplant and remove the skin in stripes using a vegetable peeler,
Cut lengthwise into two pieces.
Cut the two pieces further into bite sized pieces (called "ran-giri" 乱切り, cut in 45 degree angle as you rotate 90 degree).
Immediately soak in salted cold water for 10 minutes (water darkens).
Wash in cold running water.
Place the eggplant in a silicon container for microwave cooking and microwave for 1 minute (depending on the size of the eggplant and the wattage of the microwave oven).
Let it cool down until it can be safely handled.
Place the eggplant in the seasoned broth and refrigerate for a few hours.
Top with the bonito flakes just before serving. 

Since this type of eggplant is not as "bitter" or astringent as Western eggplant, soaking in salted water and microwaving worked. The skin is also much more tender than that of Western  eggplants. The seasoned both really made this dish. Perfect gentle cold dish for summer.

Eggplant and Japanese pepper "Age-bitashi" with pickled myouga 獅子唐芥子と茄子の揚げ浸し

“Age-bitashi” 揚げ浸し is a rather classic Japanese cooking technique which I previously posted. This is another variation. “Age” means to "deep fry" and “Bitashi” or "Hidashi"means to soak. ). First a vegetable (eggplant is the classic) is deep fried and then “soaked” in a seasoned broth. This dish is either served at room temperature or chilled (especially in hot summer).

I had a half used package of Japanese small green pepper called “Shishi-tougarahi” 獅子唐辛子 or “Shishitou”ししとう for short. I decide to make it either “Yaki-bitashi” (grilled first and then soaked) or “Age-bitashi (fried fist and then soaked). At the grocery store, I found a nice looking Zebra eggplant and decide to make “age-bitashi” with eggplant and shishitou.

Here I served the resulting dish chilled with garnish of picked “home grown” myouga and thinly julienned ginger (“Ito-shouga” 糸生姜 or ginger-threads). This was a nice cool drinking snack to start. The only problem for me was that one of the peppers I ate was atomically hot* . I had been lured into complacency with several mild peppers. Without thinking I just popped the hot one into my mouth.  I had already chewed and swallowed when my tongue “caught on fire” and continued burning for sometime despite my efforts to put out the fire. My wife, however, did not suffer a similar misfortune

*Although shishitou in Japan appears to be always mild, shishitou grown in American soil for some reason occasionally reverts back to its original ancestor and is atomically hot. We equate eating US grown shishitou to Russian Roulette--you never know when you’ll get a “hot one”.


Shishi Tougrashi: I had about 10 leftover. I removed the stem and made a slit in the middle (To prevent exploding during cooking).

Eggplant: This is a small Zebra eggplant. I removed the stem end, cut in half lengthwise and then made half inch thick half moons.

Pickled Myouga: I posted this previously. I made some variation this time namely not blanching it before pickling (see below).

Broth: I took some short cut here. I used "Shiro dashi" 白だし from the bottle. This is concentrated dashi broth made from kelp and bonito shavings and seasoned with "shiro-zouyu" or colorless soy sauce. It is very strong and only need a little bit. I added 1 tbs of the concentrate into about 1 and half cup of water in a small sauce pan. I tasted it (dashi flavor was OK but needed a bit more saltiness) and added "Usukuchi-shouyu" or light-colored soy sauce (about 1/2 tbs). I needed some subtle sweetness and added about 1 tbs of mirin. I then let it come to a gentle boil and turned off the heat.

Instead of deep frying, I decided to sauté the vegetables. I added 2 tbs a light olive oil (or vegetable oil) into a non-stick frying pan on medium heat. I waited until the oil was almost smoking and added the eggplant. I fried one side until nicely brown (3-4 minutes) and then turned over (I added a bit more oil since eggplant soaks up the oil). After one more minute, I added the shishitou and moved them around for 2-3 more minutes or until the skin of the shishitou started blistering and brown marks developed.

I put the vegetables on the plate lined with a paper towel to remove excess oil. While the vegetables and the broth were both hot I put the vegetables into the broth, put on the llid and let them cool. After it came to the room temperature, I moved it to a sealable plastic container and placed it in the refrigerator for at least several hours or until thoroughly chilled.

The combination of shishitou and eggplant is excellent but if I have to choose I like eggplant better.

Sweet vinegared Myouga or 冥加の甘酢漬け
Although I previously posted about myouga and sweet pickled myouga, this year, I changed my recipe a bit taking my wife's input and re-posting it here. I think this recipe is better in preserving the unique myouga flavor.

As you can see below, despite the risk of being eaten alive by the mosquitos we managed to harvest some myouga. After removing the outer layers, I washed it several times to make sure no dirt remained attached (left upper). I then cut them into half and dried them on paper towels (right upper).

In the past, I blanched the myouga, which is part of the standard recipe, but my wife thought the parboiling reduced the myouga flavor in the final product. So this time, I did not blanch the myouga. I packed them in a sealable plastic container (middle left) and poured in warm sweet vinegar (middle right). As you can seen in the bottom row, the  myouga were mostly submerged. After a few days in the refrigerator, more moisture came out and the myouga was totally submerged. We started enjoying the pickled myouga after 4-5 days.

Sweet vinegar marinade:　This time I also change the recipe a bit. I added 180ml of rice vinegar, 4 tbs of sugar and 1/2 tsp of salt in a sauce pan (middle right in the picture above) on medium low flame. When the sugar  dissolved and come to gentle boil, I cut the flame.

After 3-4 days, this is ready to enjoy. I think without blanching, the myouga remains a bit more crispy and the unique flavor is better preserved.

Appetizers 4 kinds お通し４種類

These are 4 kinds of appetizers we had as starters one evening. Nothing really new. Below, from left to right, are; simmered Japanese eggplant 茄子の含め煮 or 煮浸し and simmered "kabocha" Japanese squash かぼちゃの煮物, salmon in sweet vinegar 鮭の南蛮漬け, "Kazunoko" herring roe with cucumber and "ikura" salmon roe 数の子、胡瓜の酢の物のいくら載せ, and the last is the Spanish mackerel simmered in miso 鯖の味噌煮 I usually make.

I usually take the corners of the kabocha pieces off to prevent them from crumbling during cooking but I was a bit lazy and did not do that this time. Nonetheless the pieces still kept their shape. The eggplant was a small long Japanese eggplant (this is the only kind we can consistently get). I also added blanched broccoli and heated up in the microwave.

The Japanese eggplant was from HMart Korean grocery store which we are using more often. As an innovation from my usual method of cooking eggplant I fried the skin side first. Supposedly, this  helps to retain the skin’s color. Although this is not much different from the previous post, I describe the recipe for my own convenience.

Ingredients:
3 Japanese eggplant
2 tbs neutral vegetable oil
two small pieces of ginger, crushed with the side of the knife.

250ml Japanese dashi broth (I made this with my usual bonito and kelp dashi pack)
3 tbs soy sauce
3 tbs mirin

(Instead of soy sauce, I am using "shirodashi" 白だしand light colored soy sauce).

Directions:
Cut the eggplants in half lengthwise. Shallowly cut the skin in crosshatching pattern and then cut lengthwise again to make 1/4 eggplant.
Add the oil to a frying pan on medium flame and add the ginger for a few minutes until fragrant.
Add the eggplants skin-side down and fry for 3-4 minutes and turn over to fry both of the fresh sides for 2-3 minutes each,
Add the seasonings and broth (below), put on the lid and simmer for 3-4 minutes.

This is good eaten hot right after it is cooked but it can also be stored in the broth in a sealable container in the refrigerator. The stored eggplant can be eaten cold or heated up in the microwave.

This is usual salmon nanban. This one was really good since the quality of the salmon (from Whole foods) was good and I did not over cook it. I served this with sugar snap in salt broth スナップ豌豆の塩びたし.

Mr. and Mrs. Segawa of Tako Grill kindly gave us "kazunoko" herring roe 数の子. I prepared it as I described in my New Year dish tab. The half serving shown below was soaked in dashi broth with soy sauce and mirin seasoning. I marinated the other half serving in sake-lee and miso mixture  or "kasu-miso" 粕味噌. Since this preparation will last longer than the one soaked in dashi broth we will eat it closer to the holidays.

I also served Spanish mackerel in miso sauce 鯖の味噌煮. (The red dots surrounding the mackerel are part to the decoration of the bowel not part of the preparation.)

This was a quite a good starter line up for the evening.