José André’s Dancing Eggplant

This dish, adapted from José Andrés’ Vegetables Unleashed, is very quick and easy to make (the eggplants are cooked in the microwave!), and it’s insanely good — so good you could invite friends over for sake and beer and serve this and you’d have a great party. (That is, if we can ever feel safe to entertain friends again.) The dish gets its name from the katsuobushi — bonito flakes — that dance around when they the hit hot eggplant generously brushed with a ginger-soy sauce. It’s one of the many reasons it’s worth keeping katsuobushi in the pantry (another two are being able to make dashi and okonomiyaki). That way when you see some nice Chinese or Japanese eggplant, you can toss this together.

We reviewed Vegetables Unleashed in August 2020.

Ingredients

FOR THE GINGER-SOY SAUCE

One 1-inch piece fresh ginger, peeled and finely grated

3 tablespoons sugar

2 tablespoons oyster sauce

2 tablespoons soy sauce

2 tablespoons rice vinegar

1 1/2 tablespoon Shaoxing wine (Chinese cooking wine) or dry sherry

1/4 cup doenjang (fermented soybean paste) or light miso

1 1/2 teaspoon toasted sesame oil

FOR THE EGGPLANT

4 Japanese or Chinese eggplants (about 7 ounces each), stem end trimmed off 

About 1 cup lightly packed bonito flakes (katsuobushi)

Instructions

1. To make the sauce, in a small saucepan, combine the ginger, sugar, oyster sauce, soy sauce, rice vinegar and Shaoxing wine or sherry. Place over medium heat and stir constantly until the sugar is dissolved and the mixture is warm. Stir in the doenjang or miso; if the paste is very thick, use the back of a spoon to help break it up, then use a whisk to incorporate it until smooth (You can do this off heat, if that’s easier). When it’s smooth, stir or whisk in the sesame oil. Keep warm over low heat. (Note: If it has cooled, you can bring it back up to heat over medium, then reduce to low to keep warm.) 

1. Prick each eggplant all over with a fork. Cook them two at a time in a microwave oven on high (if you have a high setting; if not regular will work), turning once halfway through, for 5 or 6 minutes.

2. Slice each eggplant lengthwise in half. Brush the cut sides generously with the sauce, then cut each half into 4 pieces. Transfer the pieces to a serving platter, garnish with the bonito flakes and serve immediately.

RECIPE NOTES

• The original recipe calls for wrapping each eggplant individually in plastic wrap before microwaving. We tried this, and it works, but we did not want to eat the eggplant microwaved tightly in plastic, as experts agree that microwaving food that is touching plastic can be hazardous to your health. Even plastic film that is marked as safe to microwave is usually considered safe (by those who consider it safe) when it is not touching the food, but at least three inches away from it, and for a maximum of three minutes of microwaving. In any case, microwaving the eggplant without the plastic wrap worked just as well, and only took 1 minute longer.

• We tested the recipe using Shaoxing wine and light miso. We have not tried it with dry sherry or doenjang.

• The original recipe did not make mention of the difficulty whisking in heavy miso; we added the instructions about how to manage that.

• The original recipe called specifically for Japanese eggplants. We did not find them, but we found Chinese eggplants of the same size, and they worked perfectly, so we added them as an option. We have not tested the recipe using Japanese eggplants yet; will update if and when we do.

• The original recipe did not specify an amount of bonito flakes; we thought it might be helpful to suggest an amount.