Steamed Aubergine with Sesame Sauce

Name: Steamed Aubergine with Sesame Sauce (Nasu Rikyu-ni)
Yield: Serves four
Cuisine: Japanese
Ingredients: dash of shoyu; 100 ml/3 fl oz/scant ½ cup second dashi stock, or the same amount of water with 5 ml/1 tsp dashi-no-moto; 1.5 ml/¼ tsp salt; salt; 15 ml/1 tbsp cornflour (cornstarch); 115 g/4 oz/¾ cup fine green beans; 130 g/4½ oz shimeji mushrooms; 15 ml/1 tbsp sesame seeds, finely ground in a suribachi or mortar and pestle; 15 ml/1 tbsp shoyu; 15 ml/1 tbsp sake; 400 ml/14 fl oz/1⅔ cups second dashi stock, or the same amount of water with 5 ml/1 tsp dashi-no-moto; 25 ml/1½ tbsp caster (superfine) sugar; 2 large aubergines (eggplant)

Nasu Rikyu-ni

Preparation info

Serves
four

Difficulty
Easy

Appears in

The Japanese Cookbook

By Emi Kazuko and Yasuko Fukuoka

Published 2024

About

This Autumn recipe, Nasu Rikyu-ni, represents a typical Zen temple cooking style. Fresh seasonal vegetables are chosen and cooked with care. This dish is also delicious cold.

Ingredients

2 large aubergines (eggplant)
400 ml/14 fl oz/1⅔ cups</

Asia
Japan
Side dish
Fish course
Pescatarian
Autumn

Method

Peel the aubergines and cut in quarters lengthways. Prick all over with a skewer, then plunge into salted water for 30 minutes.
Drain and steam the aubergines in a steamer, or in a hot wok with a bamboo basket inside, for 20 minutes, or until soft. If the quarters are too long to fit in the steamer, cut in half.