Growing up in the US, eggplant wasn't a veggie my family ate much of. It wasn't until I moved to Japan that I realized their sweet, creamy potential. It's not that the eggplants here are any better than the ones in the US (though we do have more variety). The trick is mostly in how they're prepared.
Eggplant is best when it's cooked using a high-temperature cooking method such as deep frying, steaming, and char-roasting. This softens them up and primes the flesh for absorbing your choice of seasonings.
For these eggplant "steaks," I used a three-step method that starts with pan-frying them to get some good Maillard browning on the exterior. I followed that up with some steam using sake. This cooks the eggplant through to a melt-in-your-mouth texture while infusing it with loads of umami. To finish it off, I tossed in some cultured butter and soy sauce and created an emulsion to glaze each round of tender eggplant with heaps of flavor.
By the way, I used some unusual-looking white eggplant I found at a local farm stand, but this should work with any fleshy eggplant such as Italian or Globe.
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Units
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
- 2 white eggplants other colors will work
- ¼ cup sake
- 1 tablespoon cultured butter
- 1 tablespoon soy sauce
- green shiso optional garnish, cut into a thin chiffonnade
Instructions
- Trim both ends off the eggplants and cut them into ¾-inch thick rounds.
- Heat a frying pan over medium heat until hot. Add the oil and eggplants in a single layer and fry on one side until browned.
- Flip the eggplant over and brown the second side.
- Add the sake and immediately cover with a lid. Turn down the heat and let the eggplant steam until there is no liquid left (about 4-5 minutes).
- Remove the lid and add the butter and soy sauce. Flip the eggplant steaks over repeatedly until they're glazed with the emulsion of soy sauce and butter.
- Serve with rice.
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