Ginger Miso Eggplant Stir-Fry

Although we're still a few months away from peak summer produce, my local markets are starting to fill up with hints of what's to come, and I recently came across some beautiful kamonasu. It's a spherical eggplant with firm, meaty flesh and high moisture content, perfect for stir-frying.

One of my favorite ways to prepare this type of eggplant is to stuff them with Nikumiso. It's a beautiful and delicious preparation, but it entails a bit of work. To simplify it into a quick weeknight meal, I've turned it into a simple stir-fry that you can throw together in minutes. Served with a side of rice, it makes for a satisfying meal for two to three people, and it's also delicious packed into a bento box lunch.

I wanted to make this an easy weeknight fix, so I've pan-fried the eggplant. The downside of this method is that the temperatures don't get hot enough to lock in the purple color of the skin, so the pigments degrade and turn brown. If you want vibrant purple pieces of eggplant, I recommend deep frying the eggplant before stir-frying them with the pork.