Eggplant "Unagi"

4.78 from 27 votes

This eggplant unagi (or rather, “unagi”) is indeed reminiscent of a Japanese eel, with a similar sweet, savory sauce. But instead of eel, the main event is eggplant!

Prep Time5

Cook Time25

Total Time30

Course: Vegetables

Cuisine: Japanese

Servings:

Calories: 209kcal

Author: Sarah

Ingredients

1 pound Japanese or Chinese eggplant (about 2-3 eggplants)
2-3 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 teaspoons light soy sauce
1 tablespoon mirin
2 tablespoons water
1/2 teaspoon dark soy sauce
1/2 teaspoon oyster sauce
1/2 teaspoon fish sauce
1/4 - 1/2 teaspoon sugar (to taste)
1 scallion (chopped)
steamed rice (for serving)
1 teaspoon toasted sesame seeds

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

Peel the eggplants, and slice them in half crosswise, so you have thick pieces that are about 6 inches (15 cm) long. Place the pieces in a heatproof dish.
Boil water in your steamer (or your wok with a bamboo steamer, or even just a pan with a steamer rack and lid. Read more about how to set up a steamer). Steam the eggplant over medium heat for 16-18 minutes, until a knife pierces through the eggplant easily.
After they’ve been steamed and are cool enough to handle, slice the steamed eggplants in half lengthwise, but not all the way through! Open each piece up like a book. Use two forks to open up the flesh of the eggplant even more. This creates more surface area for the sauce you’ll braise it in later.
Heat 2 tablespoons of oil in a nonstick skillet over medium high heat. Pan-fry the eggplant on both sides until golden brown on each side. (If you need additional oil, you can add 1 more tablespoon).
Meanwhile, combine the light soy sauce, mirin, water, dark soy sauce, oyster sauce, fish sauce, and sugar in a small bowl.
Pour the sauce mixture into the eggplant, and simmer until reduced by half. Run each piece of eggplant through the sticky sauce before placing onto a bed of steamed rice. Top with sesame seeds and scallions. Serve.

Notes

Nutrition information is per serving (assuming this recipe makes 2 servings), and does not include rice.

Nutrition

Eggplant "Unagi" by The Woks of Life. Recipe URL: https://body-goals.fit/eggplant-unagi/%3C/em%3E%3C/p%3E%3C/div%3E%3C/div%3E%3Cscript%3Ewindow.wprm_recipes = {"recipe-58191":{"type":"food","name":"Eggplant \"Unagi\"","slug":"wprm-eggplant-unagi","image_url":"https:\/\/thewoksoflife.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/eggplant-unagidon-9.jpg","rating":{"count":27,"total":129,"average":4.78,"type":{"comment":27,"no_comment":0,"user":0},"user":0},"ingredients":[{"uid":0,"amount":"1","unit":"pound","name":"Japanese or Chinese eggplant","notes":"(about 2-3 eggplants)","converted":{"2":{"amount":"450","unit":"g"}},"id":4522,"conversion_item_snapshot":{"amount":"1","unit":"pound","timestamp":1774163211000},"type":"ingredient","unit_systems":{"unit-system-1":{"amount":"1","unit":"pound","unitParsed":"pound"},"unit-system-2":{"amount":"450","unit":"g","unitParsed":"g"}}},{"uid":1,"amount":"2-3","unit":"tablespoons","name":"vegetable oil","notes":"","converted":{"2":{"amount":"30-45","unit":"ml"}},"id":278,"conversion_item_snapshot":{"amount":"2-3","unit":"tablespoons","timestamp":1774163211000},"type":"ingredient","unit_systems":{"unit-system-1":{"amount":"2-3","unit":"tablespoons","unitParsed":"tablespoons"},"unit-system-2":{"amount":"30-45","unit":"ml","unitParsed":"ml"}}},{"uid":2,"amount":"2","unit":"teaspoons","name":"light soy sauce","notes":"","id":330,"conversion_item_snapshot":{"amount":"2","unit":"teaspoons","timestamp":1774163211000},"type":"ingredient","unit_systems":{"unit-system-1":{"amount":"2","unit":"teaspoons","unitParsed":"teaspoons"}}},{"uid":3,"amount":"1","unit":"tablespoon","name":"mirin","notes":"","converted":{"2":{"amount":"15","unit":"ml"}},"id":594,"conversion_item_snapshot":{"amount":"1","unit":"tablespoon","timestamp":1774163211000},"type":"ingredient","unit_systems":{"unit-system-1":{"amount":"1","unit":"tablespoon","unitParsed":"tablespoon"},"unit-system-2":{"amount":"15","unit":"ml","unitParsed":"ml"}}},{"uid":4,"amount":"2","unit":"tablespoons","name":"water","notes":"","converted":{"2":{"amount":"30","unit":"ml"}},"id":332,"conversion_item_snapshot":{"amount":"2","unit":"tablespoons","timestamp":1774163211000},"type":"ingredient","unit_systems":{"unit-system-1":{"amount":"2","unit":"tablespoons","unitParsed":"tablespoons"},"unit-system-2":{"amount":"30","unit":"ml","unitParsed":"ml"}}},{"uid":5,"amount":"1\/2","unit":"teaspoon","name":"dark soy sauce","notes":"","id":274,"conversion_item_snapshot":{"amount":"1\/2","unit":"teaspoon","timestamp":1774163211000},"type":"ingredient","unit_systems":{"unit-system-1":{"amount":"1\/2","unit":"teaspoon","unitParsed":"teaspoon"}}},{"uid":6,"amount":"1\/2","unit":"teaspoon","name":"oyster sauce","notes":"","id":412,"conversion_item_snapshot":{"amount":"1\/2","unit":"teaspoon","timestamp":1774163211000},"type":"ingredient","unit_systems":{"unit-system-1":{"amount":"1\/2","unit":"teaspoon","unitParsed":"teaspoon"}}},{"uid":7,"amount":"1\/2","unit":"teaspoon","name":"fish sauce","notes":"","id":551,"conversion_item_snapshot":{"amount":"1\/2","unit":"teaspoon","timestamp":1774163211000},"type":"ingredient","unit_systems":{"unit-system-1":{"amount":"1\/2","unit":"teaspoon","unitParsed":"teaspoon"}}},{"uid":8,"amount":"1\/4 - 1\/2","unit":"teaspoon","name":"sugar","notes":"(to taste)","converted":{"2":{"amount":"","unit":""}},"id":273,"conversion_item_snapshot":{"amount":"1\/4 - 1\/2","unit":"teaspoon","timestamp":1774163211000},"type":"ingredient","unit_systems":{"unit-system-1":{"amount":"1\/4 - 1\/2","unit":"teaspoon","unitParsed":"teaspoon"}}},{"uid":9,"amount":"1","unit":"","name":"scallion","notes":"(chopped)","converted":{"2":{"amount":"","unit":""}},"id":446,"conversion_item_snapshot":{"amount":"1","unit":"","timestamp":1774163211000},"type":"ingredient","unit_systems":{"unit-system-1":{"amount":"1","unit":"","unitParsed":""}}},{"uid":10,"amount":"","unit":"","name":"steamed rice","notes":"(for serving)","converted":{"2":{"amount":"","unit":""}},"id":611,"conversion_item_snapshot":{"amount":"","unit":"","timestamp":1774163211000},"type":"ingredient","unit_systems":{"unit-system-1":{"amount":"","unit":"","unitParsed":""}}},{"uid":11,"amount":"1","unit":"teaspoon","name":"toasted sesame seeds","notes":"","id":287,"conversion_item_snapshot":{"amount":"1","unit":"teaspoon","timestamp":1774163211000},"type":"ingredient","unit_systems":{"unit-system-1":{"amount":"1","unit":"teaspoon","unitParsed":"teaspoon"}}}],"originalServings":"2","originalServingsParsed":2,"currentServings":"2","currentServingsParsed":2,"currentServingsFormatted":"2","currentServingsMultiplier":1,"originalSystem":1,"currentSystem":1,"unitSystems":[1,2],"originalAdvancedServings":{"shape":"round","unit":"inch","diameter":0,"width":0,"length":0,"height":0},"currentAdvancedServings":{"shape":"round","unit":"inch","diameter":0,"width":0,"length":0,"height":0}}}