Japanese Eggplant Recipe

I've been picking our Japanese Eggplant from the Ashram Garden and wanted to share this recipe.

Yield: 4 servings
Ingredients:
•3/4 lb Japanese eggplants, sliced into 1/4 inch-thick rounds
•1/4 lb sweet bell pepper and sweet onion thinly sliced (Mix volume according to preference. I like red bell peppers and Vidalia onions in this recipe.)
•3 Tbsp miso
•1 1/2 Tbsp mirin
•1 1/2 Tbsp sweetener (light brown sugar or honey)
•2 Tbsp vegetable oil
Preparation:
Mix miso, mirin, and sweetener in a small bowl and set aside.
Heat oil in a medium skillet and fry eggplants on medium heat until softened. (When using a 'non-stick' skillet, use less oil.)
Add bell pepper / onion mix and stir-fry them until softened.
Reduce heat to low.
Add miso mixture and stir quickly with the ingredients.
Stop the heat
Serve soon after removing from heat to loving friends and family over cooked Jasimine rice.



**Japanese Eggplant is also referred to as 'Mushinaso.'
**Mirin is made from glutinous rice, malted rice and shochu (distilled Japanese liquor). It takes over one year for mirin to be ready when it takes it a light golden color.
In the past mirin was served as an alcoholic drink widely known as the "sweet as honey liquor". Gradually growing sweeter, mirin came to be used as a condiment for drawing out the inherent richness and savoriness of foods.