I have shared my recipe for ‘Nanban-zuke’, which is a dish of marinated Fish. It is one of my Top 10 summer dishes. This dish is almost identical to the ‘Nanban-zuke’, but I used Eggplants instead of Fish. Eggplants are deep-fried and they become oily. And that’s why they taste so good after marinated in this sweet and sour sauce.

Makes

4 to 6 Servings

Ingredients

500 to 600g Eggplants
Oil for frying
1/2 to 1 Onion *thinly sliced
1 small Carrot *sliced into fine strips
1 clove Garlic *finely chopped
1 Chilli *thinly sliced, can be replaced with dried Chilli Flakes

Marinade
1/4 cup Rice Vinegar
1/4 cup Soy Sauce
1/4 cup Water
2 tablespoons Sugar
2 tablespoons Mirin *can be replaced with 1 tablespoon Sugar

Method
  1. Place all the marinade ingredients in a baking dish or similar, and mix well. *Note: As Mirin is alcoholic, you can replace it with Sugar. In that case, you use 3 tablespoons Sugar in total.
  2. Add Onion, Carrot, Garlic and Chilli, and combine.
  3. Cut off the green bit of Eggplants and cut in half or quarters lengthways, then make many shallow cuts on the skin. Then cut into chunky 5 to 6cm pieces.
  4. Deep-frying is the preferred method, but you can cook them in a frying pan with a generous amount Oil. Cook the skin side first. When soft, add to the marinade & vegetable mixture in the bowl, skin side down.
  5. Repeat with the remaining Eggplant pieces.
  6. Turn the Eggplant pieces over, skin side up, combine evenly, and set aside in the fridge for 1 hour.
  7. You can do the marinating process using a serving bowl, so that you can serve the dish straight away. Otherwise, arrange the mixture on a serving plate or bowl.