Mapo Eggplant, with HOT SPICE "Shibikara"

Scoop with a renge and the eggplant gives way, and the juice it drank falls with the minced pork.

HOT SPICE "Shibikara" cuts that fat. It is a product made for heat, but there is cassia inside it, and what stays longest in the mouth after the last bite is the coolness. Shallow-fried eggplant holds fat, and the coolness arrives there at the end. The aroma of green sansho is the first thing driven off by the heat of the oil, so half dissolves into the sauce and the rest goes on after the stove is off.

The eggplant goes into the microwave the moment it is cut. It does not drink too much oil, and it does not give out water. From the moment it reaches the pan, it is seven minutes to the finish.

Total time: about 25 min

Ingredients (Serves 4)

• HOT SPICE "Shibikara": about 1 tsp (a guide. It is used in two halves. Adjust to the heat you like)
• Eggplant: 4 (about 320 g)
• Minced pork: 200 g
• Japanese long onion (naganegi): 1/2
• Garlic: 1 clove
• Ginger: 1 knob
• Miso: 1 tbsp
• Soy sauce: 1 tbsp
• Sake: 2 tbsp
• Sugar: 1 tsp
• Chicken stock powder: 1 tsp
• Water: 150 ml
• Potato starch: 2 tsp (for thickening)
• Water: 2 tbsp (for thickening)
• Sesame oil: 1 tbsp (to coat the eggplant)
• Sesame oil: 1 tsp (to finish)
• Oil: 1 tbsp

Long eggplant or the large round kind, either works. The large round kind has thicker skin, so after cutting it into chunks give it one more minute in the microwave. Mixed beef and pork mince is fine in place of pork. The beef makes the fat heavier, so on those days be a little more generous with the last of the "Shibikara".

Preparation

1. Cut the calyx off the eggplant and cut them into large chunks (about six per eggplant). Leave the skin on.
2. Put the cut eggplant into a bowl, add the sesame oil (1 tbsp) and turn it until every piece is coated. Once oil has reached the skin, the purple stays even after cooking.
3. Spread the pieces on a heatproof dish, cover loosely with cling film and microwave at 600 W for 4 minutes. Take them out and press off the water that has risen to the surface with paper towel. Leave that water here and the sauce will be thin later.
4. Cut the long onion into thin rounds, and chop the garlic and ginger finely.
5. Combine the miso (1 tbsp), soy sauce (1 tbsp), sake (2 tbsp), sugar (1 tsp), chicken stock powder (1 tsp) and water (150 ml), and dissolve half of the HOT SPICE "Shibikara" (about 1/2 tsp) into it. Tastes for heat differ, so start light and add more as you taste.
6. Slake the potato starch (2 tsp) in the water (2 tbsp).

Instructions

1. Put the oil (1 tbsp), the garlic and the ginger into a frying pan over low heat and cook for about 30 seconds, until the aroma rises.
2. Turn the heat to medium, spread the minced pork (200 g) in and leave it for 2 minutes without touching it. Once the underside has colour, break it up and cook for 1 minute more. Keep crumbling it from the start and it stews in the water it releases, and the grain goes blurred.
3. Pour in the sauce, bring it to a boil, then simmer over medium heat for 2 minutes.
4. Add the microwaved eggplant and simmer for 2 minutes, shaking the pan. Move it as though you were spooning the sauce over rather than pressing with a spatula. The eggplant has become fragile.
5. Take the pan off the heat, pour in the slaked potato starch and stir it well through. Return it to medium heat and stir for about 30 seconds as the sauce thickens. Pour it in over the flame and it sets in that one spot, into lumps.
6. Take the pan off the heat, add the rest of the HOT SPICE "Shibikara" (about 1/2 tsp) and the sesame oil (1 tsp), and swirl the pan so it settles over everything.
7. Serve, and scatter over the long onion. It goes on without cooking, so where you bite into it the raw aroma stands up on its own.
8. Taste, and if it needs it, one more shake of HOT SPICE "Shibikara". If this is your first time, start light and add more at the table.

How the tingle feels differs a great deal from person to person. On days when small children are at the table, make it without dissolving any into the sauce, and give only the adults' bowls the shake after the stove goes off. You can vary the heat person by person without ever using two pans.

The next day the eggplant will have drunk the sauce and the taste will be stronger. In exchange, the parts that were glossy will have tightened and will not come back. Finish it the same day. Besides plain rice, it makes a meal poured over boiled Chinese noodles.

HOT SPICE "Shibikara" is a blend of six spices holding two green sansho peppers from different origins. The tingle is unmistakable, so it suits the table best — keep it beside you and add as you eat.