Vegetarian unagi

A few days ago @foodieanouk (who lovingly stalks me with food related tiktoks 24/7) send me a tiktok with a vegetarian/vegan (skip the yolk) unagi knock-off and I had to try it! It's made with eggplants and darn it's good! No, it doesn't taste like eel, duh... But the unagi sauce is amazing and adding some sushi vinegar to my rice was a good idea as well.

Sadly I can't find the tiktok anymore, but I'll write down the recipe (tweaked it a little to my taste). The original is from @okonomikitchen

Ingredients (2p):

• 2 small eggplants (1 pp) • 3 tbsp soy sauce • 3 tbsp sake • 3 tbsp mirin • 2 tbsp sugar • nori sheets • sesame seeds • optional roppings: egg yolk & spring onion •

1. Start with taking the skin off of the eggplant. Use a knife or peeler. Slice the eggplant lengthwise without cutting through completely.

2. Now, if you have a microwave, but the eggplant 1 to 2 minutes in the microwave to soften it. I don't have one, so I put them in the oven for 15-20 minutes on 180°C. Once they're softer (not fully cooked yet, but don't worry about that) flatten them by scoring them a little more.

3. Heat up a little oil in a large frying pan and start frying the eggplants on medium high heat. Take your time, they will get nice and golden.

4. Take the cooked eggplants out of them pan and set aside. Add the mirin, sake and sugar into the pan. As soon as the sugar is dissolved, add the soy sauce. Bring to a boil and let thicken a little. Add the eggplants back in and coat well in the sauce.

5. While all this is happening, you probably cooked your rice. I added some sushi vinager to my rice (used brown rice cause ugh... Trying to be healthy). You can use sushi rice, but regular is fine as well.

Put the eggplants on top of the rice and nori (crumble on top of the rice) and add some nice toppings.

The dish is vegan if you skip the yolk as a topping, but I liked the creamy addiction!

Enjoy!