Eggplant Unagi Don
From one of my favorite sites, Two Plaid Aprons, a vegetarian version of Unagi Don! Eel grilled with a sweet and savory sauce or “tare” is called unagi. Don is short for donburi, which refers to the bowl and rice that serves as the landing spot for toppings like unagi. Rice bowls, in my humble opinion, scream comfort food and this riff is no exception. If you are looking for some protein try a fam fav like Oyako Donburi, a Chicken and Egg Donburi.
Grilled and sauced unagi yields a smoky, savory-sweet, melt-in-your-mouth bite of deliciousness. Eggplant braised in the same fashion makes a great stand-in for the unagi. According to the hubster, the resident carnivore in my house, this will satisfy any meat-eater. The tare is made with soy sauce, Mirin (sweet sake), sake, and sugar; ingredients found in most Asian grocery stores. I like substituting dashi soy for the soy sauce which is a blend of soy sauce and fish stock that gives the eggplant a hint of brininess.
Anyway You Slice It
Leave the skin on the eggplant if you like. The other thing you can do is score the eggplant crosswise to mimic the striations on unagi. Fry the eggplant until nicely charred, lower the heat and pour in unagi sauce and green onions. Cover and let the eggplant braise for 5 minutes or until tender but not mushy. As the eggplant braises, it picks up the flavor of the sauce and becomes tender and soft like…eel. YUMMO.
Take the eggplant out and place it over your rice. Garnish with green onions and toasted sesame seeds. Serve immediately. OR, take it over the top with a runny, sunny-side-up egg. Enjoy!
Eggplant Unagi Don
Ingredients
Da Stars
- 2 Japanese eggplant or Chinese eggplant washed, sliced in half lengthwise and crosswise if they are long.
- 4 cups cooked white rice Feel free to use whatever grain you like, brown rice, farley, quinoa (not my choice but hey)
Da Sauce
- 4 tbsp sake
- 4 tbsp soy sauce regular or low sodium or Dashi Soy
- 4 tbsp granulated sugar
- 2 tbsp mirin
- 2 stalks Green onion, sliced
- 1/8 tsp dashi powder or granules optional use with low sodium soy sauce
Da Garnish
- Toasted white sesame seed, sliced green onions
Instructions
Unagi sauce:
- In a small bowl, mix together sake, soy sauce, sugar, mirin and dashi if using. If you use Soy Dashi, skip the powder. Set aside until needed.
Eggplant Prep
- Cut off stem of the eggplant and peel the skin with a vegetable peeler, this is optional, if you like skin, save yourself a step. Cut the eggplant in half crosswise, then slice each half evenly lengthwise. Lightly score eggplant crosswise every 1/8-1/4 inch, don't cut thru! This makes it look more like unagi.
Cookin' It
- In a 10-inch shallow pan over medium high heat, add a couple tablespoons of oil. Once the oil is hot, place eggplant flat side down and sear until golden brown, about 2 to 3 minutes. Flip eggplant and sear the other side for a minute or two until golden brown.
- Stir the prepared unagi sauce and pour it into the pan. Reduce heat to medium/medium-low to keep the sauce at a simmer. Place a lid on the pan and cook eggplant slices for 5 minutes.
- After 5 minutes, remove the lid and flip eggplant slices to their flat side. Add half of the sliced green onions to the sauce and continue simmering for 2 to 3 minutes, or until the eggplant slices are tender and the sauce is reduced to a thick glaze. Remove pan from heat.
To Serve:
- Scoop a serving of hot rice into each bowl.
- Place two slices of eggplant unagi flat side up on each bowl of rice. Garnish with the remaining green onion and sesame seeds. Bowl food is soul food!