Eggplant (Imitation Eel) Rice Bowl

Ingredients

• White rice

  Long-grain, regular, raw, enriched

  ½ cup or 93g

• Eggplant

  Raw

  1 eggplant, unpeeled (approx 1-1/4 lb) or 548g

• Soy sauce

  Made from soy (tamari)

  1 tbsp or 18g

• Mirin

  Sun Luck

  1 tbsp or 14g

• Sugar

  White, granulated sugar

  1 tbsp or 13g

• Sake

  Alcoholic beverage, made from rice

  1 tsp or 5g

• Seaweed Wraps, Sushi Nori

  gimME

  ½ sheet or 1g

Directions

1. Cook the rice according to package instructions. Poke holes all over the eggplant's skin using a fork and make a shallow cut around the stem to aid peeling.
2. Roast the eggplant over an open flame until the skin is wrinkled and the insides are tender. Use a rack over a gas burner, roast in the oven, or microwave wrapped in plastic wrap for 2 minutes at 600w. Let it cool until it can be handled.
3. Once cool, peel the eggplant and slice it lengthwise to flatten, leaving the halves connected at the stem.
4. Mix soy sauce, mirin, sugar, and sake in a frying pan and cook on low heat until it begins to bubble.
5. Add the eggplant to the pan and cook until all the liquid is absorbed.
6. Place the cooked rice in a bowl, layer with thinly shredded seaweed, and top with the eggplant 'eel'.