Infinite Eggplant (Mugen Nasu) – RecipeTin Japan

I name it Infinite Eggplant as a result of it’s so good that you would be able to eat it eternally, i.e., infinitely. It’s merely sautéed eggplants marinated in vinegar-soy sauce with sesame oil and a little bit of chilli. Intensely flavoured eggplant that melts in your mouth. Use vegetarian dashi inventory to make it vegan.

The identify of Infinite Eggplant is a translation of the Japanese identify of this recipe, ‘mugen nasu’ (無限茄子). The phrase ‘mugen’ (無限) means infinity or limitless, ‘nasu’ (茄子) is eggplant.

About Mugen Dish

When a easy dish is so tasty that you would be able to’t cease consuming it, individuals generally name the dish mugen one thing, the place one thing is the primary ingredient of the dish. There’s ‘mugen pīman’ (無限ピーマン, infinite capsicum), ‘mugen cabetsu’ (無限キャベツ, infinite cabbage), and many others. There’s even ‘mugen chikin’ (無限チキン, infinite rooster).

The usage of the phrase ‘mugen’ originated from a social community in 2016 when a easy capsicum dish was launched with the identify ‘mugen pīman’ (無限ピーマン) as a result of it was so tasty and unattainable to cease consuming it. Since then, utilizing the phrase 無限 as a part of the recipe identify unfold rapidly.

You possibly can’t use ‘mugen’ (無限) for any dish, although. It needs to be a easy dish with nice flavour. The recipe requires a small variety of generally used seasonings and cooking needs to be quite simple. Some recipes don’t even require a cooktop. What mugen dishes have in widespread in flavour is saltiness, oiliness, and umami (or sweetness).

My eggplant marinade contains soy sauce, sesame oil, dashi inventory, and mirin. Cooking eggplants is easy, and the dish has an important flavour.  So, I feel at the moment’s dish warrants the usage of the phrase ‘mugen’ (無限).

What’s in My Infinite Eggplant (Mugen Nasu)

• Skinny eggplants, stem trimmed off
• Oil to sauté eggplant (forgot to incorporate oil within the photograph above, sorry)
• Finely chopped inexperienced onions

For at the moment’s recipe I strongly advocate utilizing skinny eggplant as a substitute of huge fats eggplant, so that every piece of eggplant has a pores and skin on one aspect and white flesh on the opposite aspect. It would make cooking the eggplants simpler.

My skinny eggplants have been 18-20cm/7-8″ lengthy and about 4cm/1½” vast. You should use a fats and enormous eggplant should you can’t discover skinny ones, however you’ll need to quarter it vertically to make bite-size items. See how I lower the fats eggplant beneath. Rating the eggplant after halving it.

Additionally, you will want barely extra oil and extra time to cook dinner them.

Marinade

As per the definition of mugen dishes, the Marinade substances are pantry necessities.

• Vinegar
• Soy sauce
• Mirin
• Dashi inventory
• Sesame oil
• Chilli oil (non-obligatory)

I used Japanese chilli oil referred to as rāyu, however it’s also possible to use Chinese language chilli oil. Rāyu accommodates sesame oil and extra fragrant, nevertheless it doesn’t make a lot distinction on this recipe since sesame oil is included within the marinade.

Japanese chilli oil, rāyu (left) and Chinese language chilli oil (proper).

Easy methods to make Infinite Eggplant (Mugen Nasu)

Though I wrote the marinade making first and the video additionally reveals it first, you may make marinade whereas cooking eggplants.

Making Marinade (you are able to do this whereas cooking eggplants)

1. Put 1 heaped tablespoon of inexperienced onions apart for garnish.
2. Put all of the Marinade substances and the remainder of inexperienced onions right into a microwave-safe container.
3. Microwave at 600W for 50-60 seconds.

Getting ready Eggplant and Making Mugen Nasu

1. Halve every eggplant vertically.
2. Rating the pores and skin aspect of the eggplant items, then lower every lengthy piece into 4 brief items.
3. Warmth oil in a big frying pan over medium low to low warmth and cook dinner the eggplant items, pores and skin aspect down.
4. Flip the eggplant over and cook dinner with a lid on till the eggplant items turn out to be comfortable.
5. Switch the eggplants into an hermetic container and add the marinade.
6. Serve the eggplant with a small quantity of marinade, then scatter the inexperienced onions on high.

To shorten the cooking time of the eggplant, I scored the skin-side of eggplant items diagonally. This can even enable the marinade flavour penetrate the eggplant higher.

As a result of you’ll cook dinner eggplants straight after slicing them into bite-size items, you don’t have to put them in water to forestall the white recent from browning (oxidising).

The white eggplant flesh is extraordinarily absorbent, and oil will likely be sucked into it rapidly. Cooking the pores and skin aspect first minimises the lack of the oil within the pan earlier than the eggplant items are flipped over.

You possibly can eat the eggplant as quickly as you set the items within the marinade. It is usually nice to depart them within the fridge for a day or two.

Infinite Eggplant (Mugen Nasu) is an ideal aspect dish to go together with rice. However it’s also possible to serve it on Somen (Japanese Chilly Noodles) or vermicelli noodles with the marinade poured over them (photograph beneath). The marinade turns into a dipping sauce for the noodles.

Leftover marinade can be utilized as a dressing for Hiyayakko and Pork Shabu-shabu Salad.

Yumiko

Watch How To Make It

Infinite Eggplant (Mugen Nasu)

I name it Infinite Eggplant as a result of it’s so good that you would be able to eat it eternally, i.e., infinitely. The vinegary, candy soy flavour of the marinade goes so effectively with sautéed eggplant. It’s a excellent aspect dish to go together with rice. It’s also possible to serve it on Sōmen or vermicelli noodles with the marinade poured over them. See the video.

Use vegetarian dashi inventory to make it vegan.

Do not forget to see the part ‘MEAL IDEAS’ beneath the recipe card! It offers you a listing of dishes that I’ve already posted and this recipe that may make up an entire meal. I hope it’s of assist to you.

Recipe Sort:

Facet

Delicacies:

Japanese

Key phrase:

Marinated Eggplant, easy eggplant recipes

Serves: 4

Creator: Yumiko

Components (tbsp=15ml, cup=250ml)

• 3
  skinny eggplants
  (about 300g/0.7lb, word 1)
• 3
  tbsp
  oil

Directions

Marinade (You are able to do this whereas cooking eggplants)

1. Put 1 heaped tablespoon of inexperienced onions apart for serving.

2. Put all of the Marinade substances and the remainder of inexperienced onions in a microwave-safe container and blend.

3. Microwave at 600W for 50-60 seconds.

Put together and Cook dinner Eggplants

1. Trim the stem off every eggplant and halve it vertically.

2. Place halved eggplants on a slicing board dealing with the flesh aspect down. Rating the pores and skin aspect of every piece diagonally at 5mm/3⁄16″ intervals. The incision must be about ⅔ deep.

3. Lower the scored piece crosswise into 4 bite-size items of comparable size (word 2).

4. Warmth oil in a big frying pan at medium low warmth.

5. Place the eggplant items, pores and skin aspect down (word 3), and cook dinner for 2-3 minutes.

6. Flip them over and cook dinner for a few minutes with a lid on, till the eggplant turns into very comfortable (word 4).

Marinate and Serve

1. Instantly switch the eggplant right into a container and add the marinade whereas the eggplant items are scorching.

2. Gently press down the eggplant items above the liquid to submerge them within the marinade as a lot as attainable.

3. Switch the eggplant with a few tablespoons of marinade to serving bowls (I had 24 items of eggplants, so 6 items in every serving bowl. Scatter inexperienced onions on high (word 5).

4. If you’re not serving instantly, put a lid on the container and go away it within the fridge for as much as 2 days. You possibly can serve them heat, at room temperature, or chilly.

Recipe Notes

1. Skinny eggplants are the very best for this dish. Relying on the size of your skinny eggplant, you might want greater than 4 eggplants. My skinny eggplants have been 18-20cm/7-8″ lengthy and about 4cm/1½” vast.

You should use a big eggplant should you can’t get skinny eggplant, however you’ll need to make use of extra oil to cook dinner the eggplant items.

2. Relying on the size of your complete eggplant, you might lower it into 3 or 5 items. The size of my eggplant items was about 4-5cm/2″ lengthy.

If you’re utilizing a big eggplant, after scoring the halved eggplant, halve it once more vertically, then lower it crosswise into bite-size items. See the photograph within the publish.

3. The white eggplant flesh is extraordinarily absorbent, and oil will likely be sucked into it rapidly. Cooking the pores and skin aspect first minimises the lack of the oil within the pan earlier than the eggplant items are flipped over.

4. While you press a chunk of eggplant, the eggplant flattens simply.

5. It’s also possible to serve eggplants on skinny noodles similar to Sōmen (see the photograph within the publish) or vermicelli.

6. Leftover marinade can be utilized as a dressing for Hiyayakko and Pork Shabu-shabu Salad.

7. Vitamin per serving. It assume that 3/4 of the marinade was not consumed, which is probably going the case.

serving: 110g energy: 130kcal fats: 12g (15%) saturated fats: 0.8g (4%) trans fats: 0.1g polyunsaturated fats: 2.2g monounsaturated fats: 7.9g ldl cholesterol: 0mg (0%) sodium: 174mg (8%) carbohydrates: 6.3g (2%) dietary fibre: 2.6g (9%) sugar: 3.8g protein: 1.3g vitamin D: 0mcg (0%) calcium: 17mg (1%) iron: 0.4mg (2%) potassium: 225mg (5%)