This is a plant based recipe based on the Japanese dish ‘Unagi no Kabayaki’. Where fish or eel is cut and opened and skewered, coated in a sticky, sweet savoury sauce and chargrilled. Usually, served on a bed of fluffy rice.
Thankfully, this recipe uses aubergines (or eggplants) which are sliced in half, scored and pan fried and coated in a teriyaki sauce.
I’ve replaced the unagi sauce with a simple teriyaki sauce which is just as easy to make (they are every similar). for the teriyaki sauce all you need is 5 ingredients; soy sauce, rice wine, light brown sugar, cold water and diced fresh ginger. I’ve left out the garlic as I wanted to serve the aubergines with other dishes that had lots of garlic didn’t want them all had similar tasting sauces. Feel free to add garlic.
First Make the teriyaki sauce – finely chop and dice the ginger, then in a small bowl, thoroughly mix together the rice wine, cold water, ginger, soy sauce, sugar. put to one side ready to use. As the sauce cooks, it reduces down and becomes thick and sticky.
Cut off both ends of the aubergine and slice the aubergine in half from top to bottom.
Next make a deep cut from top to bottom in each half of the aubergine. (not all the way through), 2/3 of the way so the half aubergine can open up when cooked.
Now make lots of shallower cuts across the width of each half aubergine about 1 cm apart from top to bottom. The slices will help the sauces penetrate into thee aubergine.
In a large pan over medium high heat, add a couple tablespoons of oil. Once the oil is hot, place the eggplants cut side down and fry until golden brown, about 2 to 3 minutes. Flip the eggplants and fry the other side for a minute or two until it’s softened on the skin side.
Give the prepared teriyaki sauce a stir and pour it into the pan. Reduce the heat to medium/low to keep the sauce at just simmering. Place a lid on the pan and cook the aubergines for 5 minutes. check the sauce and if it gets too sticky too quickly stir in a little water.
After 5 minutes, remove the lid and flip the eggplants onto their cut side and continue simmering the aubergines for about 2 to 3 minutes, or until the eggplants are tender and the sauce is a thickened glaze. Remove the pan from heat.
turn the aubergines over so the cut sides are up and spoon over any sauce left in the pan onto the tops of the aubergines.
Place the pan under a hot grill to slight char the tops.
To serve, place the eggplants over the rice, charred side up and garnish the aubergine with the finely sliced spring onions and sesame seeds.
Alternatively the aubergines are just as tasty served cold.
Teriyaki glazed Aubergine
Ingredients
- 2 Aubergines
- 2 tbsp sunflower oil
- 2 tbsp rice wine
- 2 tbsp soy sauce
- 3 tbsp cold water
- 2 tbsp light brown sugar
- 1 clove ginger root
- 2 spring onions
- 1 tsp Toasted sesame seed
Method
- First Make the teriyaki sauce – finely chop and dice the ginger, then in a small bowl, thoroughly mix together the rice wine, cold water, ginger, soy sauce, sugar. put to one side ready to use.
- Cut both ends off the aubergine and slice the aubergine in half from top to bottom.
- Next make a deep cut from top to bottom in each half of the aubergine. (not all the way through), 2/3 of the way so the half aubergine can open when cooked.
- Now make lots of shallower cuts across the width of each half aubergine about 1 cm apart from top to bottom.
- In a large pan over medium high heat, add a couple tablespoons of oil. Once the oil is hot, place the eggplants cut side down and fry until golden brown, about 2 to 3 minutes.
- Flip the eggplants and fry the other side for a minute or two until soften on the skin side.
- Give the prepared teriyaki sauce a stir and pour it into the pan. Reduce the heat to medium/low to keep the sauce at just simmering. Place a lid on the pan and cook the aubergines for 3 minutes. check the sauce does dry up, add more water if necessary.
- After 3 minutes, remove the lid and flip the eggplants to their cut side and continue simmering the aubergines for about 2 minutes, or until the eggplants are tender and the sauce is a thickened glaze. Remove the pan from heat.
- Turn the aubergines cut side up and spoon over any glaze in the pan onto the tops of the aubergines and place the pan under a hot grill to slight char the tops. (I actually put them on a baking tray and spooned the sauce over)
- To serve, place the eggplants over the rice, charred side up and garnish the aubergine with the finely sliced spring onions and sesame seeds.
Nutrition
(All nutritional information is based on third-party calculations and should be considered estimates. Actual nutritional content will vary with brands used, measuring methods, portion sizes and more).