Monthly Memo From Doi's Culinary Philosophy
Original text by Doi Yoshiharu
Translated by Yoshiko Fukuda
August-Hazuki
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Under the strong summer sunlight, all the water stored within vegetables in the field seems to almost evaporate. With leaves withering, and exhausted appearances, they are about to wilt away. However, once the summer shower moistens the ground, vegetables gain their strength right away and stretch out their shriveled up body. Tomatoes, eggplants, water melons, cucumbers, and other summer vegetables must take great care of its descendents in the form of seed within their watery fruit. We, humans, are given the opportunity of eating that source of life.
●Lightly Pickled Eggplant and Its Luring Colors
I asked the eggplant pickling expert in Itoigawa of Niigata, the secret to making luscious pickles. He told me to make pickles out of the freshest, and most recently harvested eggplant as possible. During this season, eggplants ripen one after another and are harvested when they become just the right size. Picking process takes place early in the morning, where the outer skin has not hardened yet from the daytime sunshine. Moreover, the pickling process begins when the morning dew has not yet had the chance to evaporate. According to him, the best time to pick eggplants is from the 10th of August until the beginning of September. It is exactly the period that the saying "do not let daughters in law eat autumn eggplants" refers to. I am thinking that I will indeed accept the invitation he has made "to come and taste the eggplants" this summer.
The pickled eggplants that he is referring to is unique to the Niigata region and they are called Jyuzen-nasu. "Tokizuke" is salt pickling done in salt water that was simmered for a period of time. After the eggplants are placed in the mixture, even more salt is added everyday to completely settle the pickled taste from summer to the beginning of autumn. Even in one day the eggplants will adopt their infamous eggplant navy blue color. Pickle lovers put an emphasis on the color of pickled vegetables. That is why popular eggplant pickles are said to entice the eater with their color.
●Niigata Prefecture
Niigata rates number one as the eggplant loving prefecture in Japan. It prides in the largest eggplant cultivation area, eggplant consumption, and in the variety of eggplant types. The reason for their harvest only ranking 14th countrywide is because the individual farms consume most of their own crop. Furthermore, in Niigata many people favor smaller eggplants which means they harvest their eggplants early. In addition, they do not pursue simply high production rates and efficiency. But of course, most of all, they eat their own eggplants almost everyday.
No one ever gets tired of a cooking called abura-miso. A smaller sized round eggplant and shiso leaves cut into julienne strips, are stir fried and flavored with miso and sugar. Then a little bit of stock is added and the ingredients are all together simmered. When the cooking cools down, the aroma of shiso leaves becomes very appetizing. If a more pungent taste is preferred, hot red pepper can be sprinkled on top or tade plant can be stir fried together. Tade has a more direct poignant taste than red pepper.
I asked a friend from Niigata about eggplants and right away I received some samples of unusual eggplants. Opening the box, I was greatly surprised by the sizes. On the side of the box, it said, "'yakinasu' from Kisaki of Toyosaka town". One eggplant weighed more than 300g. Whereas in comparison, the eggplants that are seen in markets which usually tend to be "sennryou nasu" , only weigh 60 to 80g at the most. Immediately I cooked a "shigiyaki" or "yakinasu" where I cut the eggplant crosswise into round pieces, stir fried them and flavored them with miso in the end. Moreover, I prepared a "nasu-soumen" where the stir fried eggplants are served with somen, or thin noodle. The eggplants were very juicy inside, and had soft skin on the outside, yet the texture was quite tender. They were very delicious indeed, appetizing enough to be had everyday. This particular eggplant from Niigata, is cultivated only in that regions and the seeds never leave the grounds.●Senshu Water Eggplants
The pickled eggplants of Niigata orginated from the Senshu water eggplants of Osaka (More information on Senshu water eggplants can be found in the June, 1999 issue of Monthly Memo). Both are similar in their appearances where they both look like kinchaku or cloth bags tied at the top, a teardrop-like shape. That is why Senshu water eggplants are sometimes also called kinchaku eggplants. I have known this water eggplant for a long time, actually even extending back to my childhood. When I was young, water eggplants used to be more flat with rather an unattractive shape. These days the water eggplants have adopted a very balanced shape which no longer looks like a kinchaku. Originally this water eggplant was especially made for nuka(rice bran) pickles. Nowadays they are used in various recipes, in which the traditional pickling way is included. But it seems that we appreciated the delicious pickled taste more than people do these days. Water eggplants now can be found in markets even in Tokyo, but back in my childhood, they could not even be seen at the large central markets in Osaka.●Inakani Eggplants
One humid Osaka summer day back in my childhood, I remember eating a whole pan full of cooled "inakani" eggplants and getting yelled at. When air conditioners were not an everyday luxury, I just could not resist the cold, smooth textured flavor even with its discolored appearance.
Inakani of eggplants is a simmered dish, and the direct translation of inakani is country-style simmering. Inakani employs Osaka Eggplants or otherwise known as "senryou" eggplants (*there is a plant named senryou, which is a evergreen shrub of the family Chloranthaceae. It produces a oval-shaped fruit that turns red when ripe. Senryou literally means much money, since "ryou" used to be the unit employed to measure gold and silver [Information on senryou, found in Japan: An Illustrated Encyclopedia 2, M-Z]). The eggplants are cut vertically, and then scored on the outer skin. Then it is cut up in half vertically again. Afterwards, the pieces are soaked in water to get rid of their harshness. The eggplants are then stir fried, and flavored with sugar and soy sauce after some water is added. Next, a wooden lid is put on top and then everything is boiled down in medium heat until the liquid lessens to about a third of the original amount. By boiling with water the genuine taste of eggplants will be drawn out more effectively and that taste will be able to dominate the whole dish.
This inakani is just like any other simmered dish of eggplants, not anything too special. In the Kagawa prefecture, they add in somen to this dish just like Kanazawa. This is a way to not waste the delicious stock made from the simmering. Furthermore, it is a smart way to eat somen because the condiments in the stock will avoid the noodle from absorbing the liquid so that the somen could be eaten even when it is cold. There is another recipe that make practical use of the stock made from one cooking. That is "herring flavored eggplants". In Nigata, they reuse the stock from simmering herring and simmer eggplants in it and on top of that they simmer kurumabu(baked wheat gluten with a hole in a middle like a wheel) in the eggplant stock. In the end even though they were all cooked separately they are served together in one plate.
●Yakinasu is also be cooled in the refrigerator after it is cooked. Yakinasu is broiled directly over the flame. It is cooked so close to the flame that it can be described that the eggplants are not cooked over the heat, but it is engulfed in the flame. Therefore the outer skin of the eggplants will literally get broiled and turn to ash and fly away as the eggplants are getting cooked. However, by doing that the vegetable will be browned leaving an appetizing seared taste. As soon as the outer skin is burned, the eggplant is cooled right away in a water with some ice. Then it is served with soy sauce and ginger, or with spicy soy sauce. For Yakinasu purposes a skinnier eggplants are the best.
From what I have heard, the naganasu of Hiroshima which is more than 30 centimeters long and about 5 to 6 centimeters in width, grows to be longer than an average person's waste. In the Kansai region such as Okayama, there are similar and even slimmer eggplants like cucumbers which are about 20 centimeters long. In addition, eggplants from Hakata, Kyushu is also long and narrow. These long eggplants from the western regions of Japan can be used for other recipes like simmering and stir frying and not only for broiling.
Kamonasu (kamo is a region in Kyoto city), a product original to the region, is round and plump like a softball.
The following is a recipe for cooking this large Kamonasu. Prepare the eggplants by cutting them into pieces of 3 to 4 centimeter in thickness, and piercing them with skewers. Coat the pan with enough amount of oil. Then brown both sides of the cut eggplants. Afterward dab dengaku- miso paste for flavoring. This white miso flavor is extremely appetizing on a soft kamonasu, making it one of the most exquisite menus.
The kodachino eggplant is a smaller version of Kamo eggplant that is valued for its unusual size. There are other kinds of eggplants varying in size but without efforts to preserve the kind, some of the eggplants will die away like the Torikai eggplants of Osaka.
●There is an unnamed eggplant in Higashiawakura of Okayama. The shape of this eggplant is similar to the generic ones out in the market except this is larger in radius by about 10 centimeters. Every year after the Bon Festival ( Buddhist observance honoring the spirits of ancestors; traditionally observed from 13 to 15 of July, and August in some regions [information on Bon Festival is in Japan;AN Illustrated Encyclopedia 1, A-L]), this unnamed eggplant is used to make Miso yaki (eggplant flavored with miso paste). The succulent eggplant is heated on a pan. Then when it is softened the top part is taken off and the vegeable is simmered in miso paste. As the eggplant is getting simmered, the outer skin and the soft interior can be separated with a chopstick. After it is simmered down for a while, only the soft inside can be served. This recipe will go along well with ginger on the side also. I think there are other unnamed eggplants like this all over the country.
It is only recently that round eggplants have become reasonably obtainable. They are easily cultivated, and furthermore they are efficiently grown. Therefore it seems that they are packed and send off everywhere. These days seed to these hybrid eggplants can be bought and grown, thus similar eggplants can be seen grown all around the country. In the past only seeds of senryou eggplants or American eggplants could be obtained. The difference between American and Japanese eggplant is the color of the stem on the vegetable. The American ones have green stems even after they are harvested, while Japanese eggplants have purple stems.
There is an eggplant in Nagano that is only fit for broiling and stir frying but never for pickling. It is called Kofuse eggplant.
There are varying kinds of eggplants grown around the country but they are slowly getting selected and some fail and others succeed in surviving. The ones that are still grown have taste that is unique only to that kind.
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