Vegan Eggplant Ungai Don
This vegan "unagi" don is made with eggplant! The eggplant is cooked until tender with melt-in-your mouth texture, glazed with a sweet and savory tare sauce, and served over a bowl of white rice. It's super easy to make and takes only 15 minutes!
- Prep time
- 3 min
- Cook time
- 12 min
- Yield
- 2 servings
- Difficulty
- MEDIUM
Ingredients
Quantities are shown as originally provided.
- 1 Japanese eggplant (or Chinese eggplant (washed))
- 2 tablespoons sake
- 2 tablespoons soy sauce (regular or light sodium)
- 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
- 1 tablespoon mirin (any type)
- 1 stalk Green onion (sliced (optional for sauce and garnish))
- 2 cups cooked white rice
- Toasted sesame seed ((optional for garnish))
- Oil (as needed for cooking)
Instructions
- 1
Make the unagi sauce:In a small bowl, mix together sake, soy sauce, sugar, and mirin. Set aside until needed.
- 2
Prepare the eggplant:Cut off the stem of the eggplant and peel the skin with a vegetable peeler. Cut the eggplant in half widthwise, then slice each half evenly lengthwise. This will imitate the look of eel filets.*If you don't mind the texture of the skin, you can skip the peeling step.*
- 3
Cook the eggplant:In a 10 inch pan over medium high heat, add a couple tablespoons of oil. Once the oil is hot, place the eggplants flat side down and sear until golden brown, about 2 to 3 minutes. Flip the eggplants and sear the other side for a minute or two until golden brown.
- 4
Give the prepared unagi sauce a stir and pour it into the pan. Reduce the heat to medium/medium low to keep the sauce at a simmer. Place a lid on the pan and cook the eggplants for 5 minutes.
- 5
After 5 minutes, remove the lid and flip the eggplants to their flat side. Add half of the sliced green onions to the sauce and continue simmering the eggplant for about 2 to 3 minutes, or until the eggplants are tender and the sauce is reduced to a thick glaze. Remove the pan from heat.
- 6
Serve the eggplant unagi don:Serve two halves of the eggplant unagi over rice, per serving. Place the eggplants over the rice, seed side up (the flat side). Garnish the eggplant unagi with the remaining green onion and sesame seeds. Enjoy while hot!