Fairytale Eggplant Katsu with Miso Baba Ganoush, Sungold Tomato Sauce and Dill Flowers
By Jasmine and Musashi
Call it denial, call it a revolt, this dish is my refusal to believe that summer is over! The farmer’s market here in NYC seems to agree, the stands displaying some of the best sungold tomatoes and fairytale eggplants of the season. This dish was originally conceived as part of a vegetarian menu for a fine dining restaurant I used to work at, so the portion size has been doubled to accommodate 2 servings.
Ingredients (22)
Ingredients (22)
Sungold Tomato Sauce
Miso Baba Ganoush
Eggplant Katsu
Instructions
For the Sungold Tomato Sauce
Crush the tomatoes (2 ⅓ cups) in a small sauce pot with a pinch of salt and 2 cracks of fresh white pepper and cook over medium-low heat until the sauce is reduced by ⅓, 15 minutes.
Turn the heat off, stir in the dill (1 bunch) and thyme (2 sprigs) and cover the pot to steep for another 15 minutes. Remove the herbs and strain the sauce through a fine mesh strainer into another sauce pot.
Reduce the sauce over low heat until it coats the back of a spoon. Season to taste with salt, white pepper or honey and set aside.
For the Miso Baba Ganoush
Combine the cooked eggplant (3) and miso ( cup) in a small sauce pot over high heat to remove some of the moisture, 2 minutes, stirring constantly.
Add a few drops of sherry vinegar and season to taste with salt, mirin and white pepper.
Turn off the heat and add just enough olive oil to keep the eggplant moist. Adjust the seasoning to taste and set aside.
For the Eggplant Katsu
Season the eggplant flesh (3) liberally with soy sauce and salt, in that order. Leave at room temperature for 15 minutes and pat dry.
Heat the oil in a medium pot to 350°F. Prepare three trays with the flour (½ cup), egg (2) and panko (1 cup), seasoning each tray with a pinch of salt and mixing well.
Dip the eggplants in the flour first, pat off any excess, then into the egg, and finally the panko. Fry the eggplants until golden brown, 2 minutes, drain on paper towels and season with a pinch of fleur de sel.
To Assemble
Heat up the baba ganoush and tomato sauce in separate pots. Spread the baba ganoush in a circle in the middle of a large plate. Plate the eggplant katsu in a random pattern and plate the sauce. Garnish with the peeled sungold tomatoes (5 whole), dill flowers, dill, and a few drops of olive oil.
This recipe is part of the Mixtures digital cookbook, and is only available once you've purchased the cookbook.
Purchase ($6.00)
Comments
Musashi Osaki is a chef. He grew up in his family’s sushi restaurant and after graduating college, he moved to Kyoto to study traditional kaiseki cuisine at Kokyu (1 Michelin). Upon returning to New York, Musashi continued to work in fine dining restaurants with an emphasis on farm-to-table cuisine like Blue Hill New York (1 Michelin) and Blue Hill at Stone Barns (2 Michelin). From there, he bridged farm-to-table with his Asian heritage working at Atoboy, a Korean-American restaurant by JP and Elia Park of Atomix, and most recently as the Chef de Cuisine at Restaurant Yuu (1 Michelin), a 20-seat French-Japanese restaurant in Greenpoint, Brooklyn.Jasmine Stoy is not a chef. She’s a Product Manager in the tech industry, currently at Figma (a design software company). After a few months of dating, Jasmine started posting content of Musashi cooking on social media—narrating to explain Musashi’s thought process and cooking tips.Both are currently based in New York City.