00:00A quiet bowl with a lot going on, silky up plant, chewy abarage, sharp miyoga, and a broth that tastes
00:07like more work than it was.
00:09Eggplant miso soup, start with the pan cold.
00:13Julienne one miyoga and drop it into cold water for a few minutes to soften its bite.
00:18Miyoga is a type of Japanese ginger and it tastes nothing like the ginger root you might be picturing.
00:24If you cannot find it, grate a small amount of fresh ginger and slice up some green onions instead.
00:31Between them, you get the brightness and the freshness that miyoga brings on its own.
00:36Stack four sheets of leaves, roll them into a tube, and cut them into thin ribbons.
00:44Slice two sheets of abarage into thin strips.
00:49Abarage is deep fried tofu sold in flat sheets and it earns its place in two ways.
00:54It gives you something chewy to bite against all that soft eggplant, and oil it lets go.
01:00During cooking, get soaked right back up by the nasi.
01:06Lastly, cut 100 grams of eggplant in half crosswise, then slice each half lengthwise into four sticks.
01:15Go for eight thinner ones if you prefer.
01:18What matters is that every stick comes out of the same thickness.
01:25Now, pour one tablespoon of cooking oil into a frying pan that is still cold.
01:30Then add the eggplant, and abarage.
01:33Do not turn the heat on yet.
01:35Toss everything gently until every single piece carries a thin, even quarter of oil.
01:40A cold pan is what buys you the time to do that.
01:42Once the oil is hot, you're already cooking, and half your eggplant goes in bare.
01:48Turn the sticks, skin side down, and set the heat to medium.
01:52Press them down gently with your chopsticks so the skin makes full contact with the pan.
01:58Fry for one to two minutes, and look at the skin where it goes.
02:01When it turns glossy, and the flesh underneath looks slightly translucent, flip them.
02:08Give the cut size a brief moment, then pour the pan off the heat.
02:12That glossy skin is your signal, and the eggplant is done here.
02:18Pour 500ml dashi, the Japanese stock, into a saucepan, and bring it up to almost boiling over medium-high heat.
02:26Homemade dashi packets are my current standard, and that video is on the card.
02:32Instant granules will technically work, but I treat them as a last resort rather than go to.
02:38Transferred eggplant and abarage into the hot dashi and simmer for one to two minutes.
02:42They're already most of the way there from the pan, so all they need now is to finish.
02:48The less time eggplant spends sitting in liquid, the more colour stays where you want it.
02:54And if you want a more substantial bowl, cubed tofu goes in right here, alongside the eggplant and the abarage.
03:03Turn the heat off, set a miso strainer down into the broth, add two tablespoons of arse miso,
03:09and whisk it inside the strainer until it loosens up.
03:13No strainer? No problem.
03:15Spoon a few tablespoons of the hot broth into a small heatproof bowl,
03:20whisk the miso into that until it's smooth, and pour it back into the pot.
03:28Now taste it, because this is the one part of the recipe I cannot write down for you.
03:34Salt runs from around 6% in the sweet misos up to around 12% in the salty ones,
03:41so the same two tablespoons can land in two completely different plates depending on which tub is in your fridge.
03:49Add a little more at a time until it tastes right to you.
03:53There is no correct number here, and anyone who gives you one is guessing.
03:57Ladle the eggplant and abarage into your bowls first, then pour the soup over them.
04:04Serve them with the miyoga and shiso piled on top.
04:08Drizzle a little toasted sesame oil into each one for the aroma.
04:13And this is my eggplant miso soup.
04:15This is what a summer-inspired bowl looks like in 15 minutes.
04:20Make this tonight, google eggplant miso soups sudachi for the full printable recipe with exact measurements and timing.
04:29Want even more delicious recipes?
04:31Grab my free cookbook from the link in the description.
04:35Ok, let's go over the ingredients one more time, and if you're ready to cook,
04:39grab the written instructions by clicking the full recipe box with a picture that's about to pop up on your
04:44screen.
04:45Tap the recipe card on your screen for the full printable version with exact measurements,
04:50every timing, and notes for getting each step right.
04:53Next time, I'm making Hankake Spaghetti.
04:56See you then.
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