I had a pile of eggplants sitting in my kitchen, so I decided to turn them into two dishes today: a soft, savory eggplant rice bowl and crispy fried eggplant.
Let me share the rice bowl recipe first.
This one skips meat entirely, but the eggplant alone makes it surprisingly filling and satisfying, and the method couldn’t be simpler.
Ingredients
- Cooked rice – 2 bowls
- Eggplant – 2
(1 T = 15 ml / 0.5 fl oz, 1 t = 5 ml / 0.17 fl oz)
Sauce
- Soy sauce – 2 T (jin-ganjang, Korean soy sauce; regular soy sauce works fine too)
- Mirin – 2 T (Korean cooking rice wine)
- Minced garlic – 1 T
- Sugar – 1 T
- Water – to taste (adjust as needed; a little extra is fine since the sauce gets reduced)
(1 T = 15 ml / 0.5 fl oz, 1 t = 5 ml / 0.17 fl oz)
How to Make It
1Trim off the stem and peel the eggplants like this.
2Place the trimmed eggplants in a bowl, cover with plastic wrap, and microwave for 3 minutes.
3While that’s cooking, make the sauce for the rice bowl.TipSince the sauce will be reduced later, it’s fine if you add a bit more water than you think you need.
4Once the eggplants are cooked, cut them in half lengthwise and spread them open flat.
5Use a knife to flatten them out evenly like this.
6Add a little oil to a pan and cook the cut side of the eggplant first until golden brown.
7Once golden, flip the eggplant, pour in the sauce, and let it reduce.
8Arrange the eggplant nicely over a bowl of rice and it’s done.
The eggplant turns out so much softer and juicier than you’d expect.
Even people who aren’t usually fans of eggplant might end up enjoying this one.
If you like, feel free to add some chopped scallions or chili flakes to make it your own.
Ingredients
- Cooked rice – 2 bowls
- Eggplant – 2
- (1 T = 15 ml / 0.5 fl oz, 1 t = 5 ml / 0.17 fl oz)
Sauce
- Soy sauce – 2 T (jin-ganjang, Korean soy sauce; regular soy sauce works fine too)
- Mirin – 2 T (Korean cooking rice wine)
- Minced garlic – 1 T
- Sugar – 1 T
- Water – to taste (adjust as needed; a little extra is fine since the sauce gets reduced)
- (1 T = 15 ml / 0.5 fl oz, 1 t = 5 ml / 0.17 fl oz)
How to Make It
- Trim off the stem and peel the eggplants like this.
- Place the trimmed eggplants in a bowl, cover with plastic wrap, and microwave for 3 minutes.
- While that's cooking, make the sauce for the rice bowl.
Tip.Since the sauce will be reduced later, it's fine if you add a bit more water than you think you need. - Once the eggplants are cooked, cut them in half lengthwise and spread them open flat.
- Use a knife to flatten them out evenly like this.
- Add a little oil to a pan and cook the cut side of the eggplant first until golden brown.
- Once golden, flip the eggplant, pour in the sauce, and let it reduce.
- Arrange the eggplant nicely over a bowl of rice and it's done.
