While eggplant and oil make good partners, grilled eggplant also makes for an attractive, mouth-watering dish. When the skin is grilled and removed, the texture turns thick and smooth, and the toasty flavor will make you hungry for more.
Peeling becomes easy when the eggplant is cooked over direct heat on a grilling grid and the skin is thoroughly charred. When this is done, immerse it in water and then quickly remove the skin. This way, the eggplant will not become watery and should remain warm inside.
Although you can use your kitchen’s built-in fish grill, the eggplant will take longer to finish cooking than when cooked over direct heat.
A variety of eggplants are produced around Japan. Other than the typical long egg-shaped kind, there are longer ones, bite-size ones and those with greenish-yellow skin, some of which you may see at the store. You can also order them directly from the production area.
How they are eaten depends on their shape and texture.
“Mizu-nasu,” literally “water eggplant,” is also a local variety, and those produced in the Senshu area in Osaka Prefecture are well known.
Although characterized by its large roundish egg shape, its foremost feature is the high water content. Tradition has it that “farmers would eat fresh mizu-nasu to hydrate themselves during field work.” Since the skin is soft and less astringent, it can be enjoyed lightly pickled or in a salad.
GOHAN LAB/ Stir-fry of eggplant and chicken: Coating veggies in oil prevents them from losing their vivid colors | The Asahi Shimbun: Breaking News, Japan News and Analysis asahi.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from asahi.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Editor’s note: The theme of Gohan Lab is to help people make simple, tasty “gohan” (meals).
To cap the series on answering our readers’ requests, we chose a desire “to clean and prepare fish.”
The in-season Japanese sardine is opened flat with the hands. Since sardines are tender, they can be filleted with your hands instead of a knife after removing the head and guts.
The flesh and bones are separated by running the ball of the thumbs along the bone. Once you get the hang of it and get better, cleaning fish will become fun.
According to the Japan Fisheries Information Service Center based in Tokyo, the catch and price of Japanese sardines continue to be stable this year. Once you learn how to open them flat with your hands, a process called “tebiraki,” your cooking repertoire will expand to include fries, fish cake balls and more.