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Eggplant Unagi Don

Eggplant Unagi Don, a delicious, easy prep, vegetarian version of Unagi Don
Prep Time5 minutes
Cook Time15 minutes
Course: dinner, lunch, one bowl meal
Cuisine: Asian, Asian-American, vegetarian
Keyword: eggplant, mirin, Rice Bowl, soy sauce, vegetarian

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!