I like to eat eggplants in summer. They can be found in any other seasons but they taste the best in summer. One of my favorite ways to eat them in summer is grilling them and serving them cold. It’s called Yakinasu (焼きなす) in Japanese. It’s literally translated as “grilled eggplant.”
For this dish, long skinny eggplants work better, possibly Japanese eggplants. What are Japanese eggplants?
They have dark skin and usually skinny and long. The color of their skin is dark purple, almost black. Their cap is also dark purple.
I feel Japanese eggplants are less watery and have firmer texture compared to a big round kind. Traditionally, this dish is made by grilling them over fire but I don’t have a grill so I usually bake them in an oven to make yakinasu. It still works fine. It just doesn’t have strong chared taste when you bake them.
I’ll show the step-by-step instructions but the shorter version of the recipe and the listing of the ingredients are at the bottom of this blog post.
- Wash eggplants and cut the cap off. Score a shallow long lines with a knife. This will help remove skin easily. Preheat oven at 440 degrees Fahrenheit (225 degrees Celsius).
2. Place eggplants on a baking pan. Line the pan with aluminum foil so that juice of eggplants will be caught.
3. Bake eggplants at 440 degrees Fahrenheit (225 degrees Celsius) for 12 to 15 minutes. They are getting puffed. After 12 to 15 minutes, turn them over and bake for 12 to 15 more minutes
When they are based, they are slightly burned and deflated.
4. Remove eggplants from oven and shock them in cold water.
5. When eggplants are cool enough to touch but still warm, peel their skin from the bottom.
6. Gently squeeze excess water out by hand and pad them with a dried towel. Paper towel works fine.
7. Cut eggplants into bite size. Garnish them with grated ginger and pour soy sauce.
They can be eaten when they are still warm but they are taster when they are cold. I bake them ahead of time and set aside in the fridge until I am ready to eat. Plain grilled eggplants are pretty bland. With grated ginger and some soy sauce, the flavor of eggplants comes through. This dish is easy to make and refreshing to have in summer.
- 4 eggplants
- *Garnish
- Grated ginger
- Soy sauce
- Wash eggplants and cut the cap off. Score a shallow long lines with a knife. Preheat oven at 440 degrees Fahrenheit (225 degrees Celsius).
- Place eggplants on a baking pan. Line the pan with aluminum foil so that juice of eggplants will be caught.
- Bake eggplants at 440 degrees Fahrenheit (225 degrees Celsius) for 12 minutes. After 12 to 15 minutes, turn them over and bake for 12 to 15 more minutes.
- Remove eggplants from oven and shock them in cold water.
- When eggplants are cool enough to touch but still warm, peel their skin from the bottom.
- Gently squeeze excess water out by hand and pad them with a dried towel.
- Cut eggplants into bite size. Garnish them with grated ginger and pour soy sauce.
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