Japanese Eggplant (Aubergine) Tanaka And Dashi - cooking recipe

Ingredients

JAPANESE EGGPLANT TANAKA
1 small Japanese eggplant
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 tablespoons Japanese soy sauce
2 tablespoons sugar
1/3 cup sake
1/4 teaspoon aji-no-moto (monosodium glutamate) (optional)
DASHI
6 cups water
1/2 ounce kombu seaweed
1/2 ounce shaved bonito flakes (katsuobushi)

Preparation

HOW TO MAKE THE EGGPLANT: Wash eggplant, but do not peel.
Cut into 1/2 inch cubes.
Heat vegetable oil in a large frying pan.
Add the cubes of eggplant and saute over high heat until lightly browned here and there.
This should take about 2 minutes.
Add the remaining ingredients.
Stir well, cover pan and simmer over low heat until eggplant is tender and sauce is just a bit thicker.
Serves 2.
HOW TO MAKE THE DASHI: Bring the water to a fast rolling boil.
Add kombu seaweed.
Stir for 2 to 3 minutes to release its flavour.
Then remove with a slotted spoon (leaving it in the soup would make it too strong).
Bring the water back to a fast rolling boil and add the bonito shavings.
Bring back to the boil, then quickly remove from the heat.
Let the bonito shavings settle in the bottom of the pan---this usually takes 2 to 3 minutes.
Strain; now the dashi, or broth, is ready to use.
Yield: 6 cups.
*InJapan it is used as much as we use salt, and it is a vegetable protein derivative.
If you wish to use it, look for the Japanese type in Oriental shops.
**Kombu:Kelp or dried seaweed tangle, which is one of two most basic and important ingredients for making soup stock (dashi).
***Shreddeddried bonito (a fish), the other essential for basic stock (dashi).
Can be purchased in one piece, then grated, or already grated and packaged, which is much more convenient.
DASHI: This soup stock is the base for almost all Japanese dishes, so it is important to learn how to make it.
Chicken stock can replace dashi, but a certain flavour will be missing.
Madame Benoit's World of Food.