I used to make this dish a lot in school because I was always trying to cook less meat. It also goes well with rice which would fill me up. Sometimes I also put in onions which add a different type of sweetness but it depends on my mood. If you want to add onions, stir fry them before the bell peppers so that they can caramelize. This is the conclusion recipe for build-a-meal 35. I thought it would add some color and sweetness to this meal since the main dish is a savory suigyoza soup.
Ingredients (Servings 2)
100 grams eggplant
50 grams mix of green and red bell peppers
2 tbsp. mirin
1 tbsp. koji miso
1/2 tbsp. sugar
1/8 tsp. dashi powder
1 tsp. vegetable oil
Directions
1) Cut up the bell pepper and eggplant in the same way into triangular pieces. You may want to soak the eggplant in water to remove the aku first.
2) Stir fry the bell peppers in the vegetable oil first for about 2-3 minutes on medium heat.
3) Add in the eggplant and continue to stir fry. You may need to add more vegetable oil since the eggplant absorbs the oil. Stir fry until the vegetables are done.
4) Add the miso, mirin, sugar and dashi powder. Tip: Mix in the sauce ingredients quickly otherwise the miso and sugar will burn. Have all the ingredients ready to go and mix quickly. Find a spot on the frying pan and use chopsticks to stir in the mirin into the miso. Next, add the sugar and the dashi powder. After the sauce is done, mix with the rest vegetables. If the sauce is too thick, add a splash of mirin.
5) Plate immediately so that miso doesn’t dry out on the pan.
Cut the eggplant into triangular pieces.
Cut the eggplant in the same way.
Stir fry the bell peppers first.
Add the eggplant. When the vegetables are done, add the miso, mirin, sugar.
This dish is great as an okazu (side dish) with rice.
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Naomi Kuwabara was born and raised in California but spent many summers in Japan growing up. She has spent time living in Hokkaido and Osaka, both meccas for Japanese cuisine. Her passion is cooking and sharing her experiences cooking Japanese food with others. Her blog Umamitopia is about her experiences cooking Japanese food. Her greatest inspirations are from her mother and grandmother. Her cooking adventures can be found at http://umamitopia.com.
