Japanese Eggplant Tempura with Dipping Soy Sauce

This is a Filipino-favorite dish. It is an eggplant meal cooked “tempura” style. They are thinly sliced Japanese eggplants, dipped in tempura batter, large ‘Panko’ breadcrumbs and deep fried for a few sizzling minutes in hot oil. For a manageable meal on a hot summer day, I used the open burner on our outdoor grill to cook this. On colder days, I cook tempura indoors, stove top. For a terrific tempura batter, I adapted the recipe of my good friend, Namiko from her blog “Just One Cookbook”, which features easy Japanese home cooking. I made sure to serve this along with a side dipping soy sauce, flavored with broth, some dashi stock, sake wine, sugar and finely grated radish. Like all Filipino meals, this came with a big bowl of fragrant steamed jasmine white rice.

Course: Dinner, Lunch, Main Course, Side Dish, Vegetables

Cuisine: American, Asian, Filipino, Japanese

Keyword: Japanese Eggplant Tempura

Servings: people

Calories: 750kcal

Author: Asian in America recipe

Equipment

large wok
Deep Fry Thermometer

Ingredients

4 to 5 whole Asian eggplants thinly sliced, diagonal; from Asian markets; or use regular aubergines sliced in 2-inch length pieces
1/2 cup vegetable oil for deep-frying
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 Tablespoon cornstarch
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 whole egg chilled
3/4 cup ice cold water
1/3 cup + 1/2 teaspoon Hondashi dashi stock from Asian markets
3 Tablespoons Japanese soy sauce
2 Tablespoons sake
2 teaspoons sugar
1 Tablespoon grated daikon radish liquid squeezed off
steamed jasmine white rice for serving

Instructions

Wash the eggplants and dry with a paper towel. Cut diagonally in thin slices, measuring about 2-inches per slice. The eggplants cook quicker when slices are thin. Also, cut them up while the oil is heating up. The eggplants’ inner flesh tends to darken if left open for too long.
Preheat the vegetable oil in the large wok over high heat. If you have a deep-fry thermometer the ideal temperature for the oil in this recipe is 170 C. Or if you dip wooden chopsticks in the oil and you see small bubbles around it, then the oil is ready for frying.
*Note: Do not deep-fry if oil is burnt. This affects the tempura's flavor.
Mix the tempura batter ingredients in a bowl : Flour, cornstarch, baking powder, salt, egg and ice water. Batter should be a bit lumpy. *Note: Use ice cold water and a chilled egg
Dip the eggplant slices into the batter. Then roll it in a bowl of Panko bread crumbs. Drop them a little at a time into the hot wok with oil.
Pan fry for 2 to 3 minutes per eggplant slice. Drain the cooked slices on a paper towel or parchment paper to remove excess oil.
Separately,mix in a small bowl the dipping sauce. Blend together the dashi stock, soy sauce, sake, sugar. Pour this in a small saucepan and over medium high heat, boil the ingredients. The sauce will boil in about five minutes. Turn off the heat. Pour this over the grated daikon radish in a small bowl. Serve together with the sizzling crisp eggplant tempura and a large serving of steamed jasmine white rice.
COOK’S COMMENTS: Nami’s deep-fying suggestion : “ You want to bring the oil to 170C( 338F). Check the temperature with a thermometer. Or if you dip chopsticks in the oil, you will see small bubbles around it. It’s ready for deep frying.”

Nutrition