inari eggplant

Saw this on IG and had to try

Inari Eggplant seen on IG : suntory japan & tanoshoku megumi, serves 2

2 small eggplant, peeled then  cut in half

2 aburaage, cut in half

hot water

1 cup water

1/2 teaspoon powdered dashi

1 tablespoon sugar

1 tablespoon mirin

1 tablespoon shoyu

After peeling eggplant, wrap in plastic wrap and nuke for 1 minute

With hot water pour over aburaage to take off some of the oil

Open the aburaage pocket and put in one half of the eggplant in

Put the filled aburaage in a shallow pan/pot

Add the powdered dashi, water and sugar

Bring up to a boil, turn down the heat to low, use drop lid, cook for 5 minutes

After 5 minutes, add mirin and shoyu

Cook for another 5 minutes

NOTES: The first time I tried this, the aburaage wouldn’t open up, so I couldn’t put the eggplant in (photo of 1st try)

Also I think the person who created this recipe used way smaller sized eggplant (or had larger aburaage) because half could not fit in one pocket

(The eggplant that I bought was small about 4 inches long)

Instead of powdered dashi and water, I just used 1 cup of cold brew dashi*

*(put 1 dashi packet (tea bag like thingy) into 4 cups of water and "cold brew" overnight in fridge)

I had not noticed using a drop lid when I scribbled this down, but used it the second time

Both times, I ended up cooking this longer because the eggplant was still firm, even after heating in the microwave

Taste wise it is like the aburaage in kitsune udon or inarizushi

Even though this didn’t come out exactly as the video on IG, I like the idea and would make this again.