Japanese Country-Style Eggplant (Nasu No Inaka-Ni)

"Stewed eggplant doesn't sound exciting to you? Think that eggplant is only for vegetarians? Or just plain have no idea what to do with eggplant other than eggplant pamesean? Well, this delightful and simple Japanese eggplant dish will change your mind--and your palate-about eggplant. No one I have ever served this to has ever said anything but, "Delicious" or "Amazing" or "How on earth did you make this? I love it!" Asian eggplants are more tender and delicately falvored than the standard variety--but you can use either kind with excellent results. Katsuo-bushi--dried bonito flakes--are a common condiment in Japanese cooking. They come in packages of five packets. Next time you are at an Asian grocers, pick up a package. You can use katsuo-bushi in miso soup, and, together with grater gingerroot and soy sauce, as a lovely topping for cold tofu (this is way yummier than it sounds)."
 
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photo by Maggie photo by Maggie
photo by Maggie
Ready In:
30mins
Ingredients:
7
Serves:
4
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ingredients

  • 8 Japanese eggplants (or one large eggplant)
  • 3 tablespoons vegetable oil
  • 14 teaspoon chili pepper flakes, to taste
  • 1 packet dried bonito flakes (katsuo-bushi, found in Asian grocery stores)
  • 3 12 tablespoons soy sauce
  • 3 tablespoons mirin (Japanese sweet cooking wine, or substitute vermouth with added sugar to taste)
  • 1 cup water
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directions

  • Score Asian eggplants lenthwise every half inch. (If using regular eggplant, cut off ends and then cut remainder into 1" cubes, but do no peel.).
  • Put all ingredients in a sturdy pot and stir to coat.
  • Simmer for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally so that eggplant cooks thoroughly (until it becomes tender).
  • Serve hot or cold.

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Reviews

  1. Excellent recipe with all the right flavors so that it tastes authentic (tested on a real live Japanese person - easy enough to do since I'm living in Japan). I don't love a whole bunch of katsuobushi, but it's true that this cooks so nicely that there is the right hint of flavor without being overpowering. This is also SO easy. I am not sure that I cut the eggplant properly, so I will start paying more attention to how I see it when it's served, but this is an amazing recipe. Thanks for sharing!
     
  2. Loved this! I had it for lunch over udon noodles and it was wonderful.
     
  3. This was a very tasty use of japanese eggplant. I substituted 6 1/2 T of Memmi (Japanese soup base consisting of bonito, soy sauce and mirin) for the soy sauce, mirin and bonito, since that was what I had. The family gave their thumbs up. It was served as a side to some skewered ginger-soy chicken strips.
     
  4. what a great combo of flavors! don't let the katsuo bushi put you off... this doesn't taste at all fishy. the flavors blend nicely.
     
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RECIPE SUBMITTED BY

Tumerica is a freelance writer who has written essays that have appeared in the Santa Barbara News-Press, and in Santa Barbara’s arts and entertainment paper, The Independent. She regularly writes book reviews of graphic design and other non-fiction books for Technical Communication, the journal of the Society for Technical Communication. And she has written articles on writing for other writers, appearing in The Solitary Scrivener, and T-Zero. Tumerica is a fanatic foodie and gourmet cook who has placed in a cooking contest and is working on a curry cookbook. She has published food articles for The Gastronome, the American magazine for the Chaîne des Rôtisseurs. She also pens the occasional restaurant reviews, but admits to enjoying doing the research more than the actual writing. She also writes food articles for her blog at http://tumerica.blogspot.com with a focus on learning the underlying principals behind cooking, rather than slavishly following recipes. Tumerica is a published poet, with her works appearing in the zine, Renaissance, and in a poetry anthology published by Glass Tesseract. She has recently finished her first book of poetry, Red and Green: On Passion and Ecocentrics, and is currently searching for a publisher. She has had many incarnations in her job history. Among her titles have been: bassoonist, saxophonist, Jazz and Blues singer, graphic designer, science journal editor, narrator, teacher, artist, homeless shelter manager, and art model.
 
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