Roasting eggplant...with soy sauce

I recently discovered something so utterly simple yet just a little bit genius.  I had to share it.

Eggplant, oven-roasted with oil and soy sauce in place of salt

The subject is eggplant.  As a kid, I was not a fan of eggplant.  I always thought cooked eggplant was rather slimy and just generally questionable.  It's always been one of my mother's favorite vegetables and growing up, it would show up on our dinner table stuffed with fish paste and pan-fried (like this); she would order the same thing at dim sum restaurants.  I always passed on it and went for the straight-up filling instead that she would likewise pan-fry.

Now, you know how the story goes.  I grew up, I got more open-minded and I now enjoy eggplant almost as much as my mother (okay, maybe not quite).  But the one thing I still dislike about eggplant is how much oil it absorbs.  I figured roasting was the best answer and in a quest to eat more eggplant, I stumbled upon a recipe from this America's Test Kitchen magazine for "soba noodles with roasted eggplant". It was the way the eggplant was roasted in this recipe that intrigued me.  It's quite simple: you roast cubed eggplant with some oil and instead sprinkling some salt over them as you would naturally think to do, use soy sauce instead!

Soy sauce adds a jolt of flavor and increases the meatiness of the eggplants

And here's what happens - the eggplant soaks up that soy sauce, which gives it such a great boost of flavor (you can really taste it).  The meatiness of the eggplant works so well with the almost-beefy flavor of the soy sauce itself.  It makes me think I really don't need meat in my life.  It is totally delicious!  I've made a few batches already in the last few weeks and my husband and I are loving it.  It's so good as a side dish; we have it alongside stir-fries and noodles or rice, and it'd clearly be good with soba as the original recipe outlined.    

This is so simple but such a neat little trick for anyone who likes eggplant and is looking for an easy way to prepare it.

It doesn't surprise me that the folks at America's Test Kitchen have everything figured out and calibrated.  When you roast the eggplant, keep the specified recipe amounts in mind.  It calls for 2 tablespoons vegetable oil and 1 1/2 teaspoons of soy sauce (I use regular, not low-sodium) for 1 pound of eggplant.  If you are too heavy-handed with the soy sauce, it could be too salty and if you don't use enough, you'll wish you did (I have learned from experience).

I've roasted 3 batches of these eggplants so far.  In my last batch, I substituted some of the vegetable oil with sesame oil.  I used only about half a teaspoon and it didn't make a discernible impact on the final taste but I liked giving that a try and mixing things up a tad.

It's amazing how the eggplant instantaneously soaks up the oil and soy sauce like sponges.  It makes me glad to be roasting it because if I was cooking these on the stovetop, I can see myself continuously adding more oil. 

After about half an hour in a 450 degree oven, you get some flavorful morsels of eggplant.  It's got such a hearty, meaty, rich flavor.  This is a great make-ahead to keep in the refrigerator if you can keep yourself from eating it all in one sitting.

On the subject of roasting vegetables...Now that it's getting chilly, it's no hassle to turn on the oven and get roasting. Regardless of the weather, I roast sweet potatoes all year round because I'm addicted to them.  In an effort to branch out a bit, I happily hopped on the spaghetti squash bandwagon last year and, recently, I tried Delicata and Kabocha squash! Maybe it was luck but my first batch of delicata squash was so, so sweet.  I'm a fan.

Sweet Delicata squash

And I have Nami @ Just One Cookbook to thank for teaching me about Kabocha squash.  I was excited to learn about this because I've enjoyed it in tempura form at Japanese restaurants but have never been able to put a name to it .  Every time I'd ask if it was pumpkin that I was eating, I'd get a smile and a nod but no specifics.  

The funny thing is I made a mistake and mistook an acorn squash for kabocha at first! I roasted it and was disappointed in the bland flavor, wondering if I'd just gotten a "bad" kabocha.  On closer look, I came to realize my mixup and when I finally roasted this Asian variety of winter squash, it was a happy discovery because it has a unique texture and flavor that I really like.  It really is a bit like roasted chestnuts - and chestnuts are one of my favorite things on earth!  The kabocha squash has a fluffy interior yet a density to it that makes it really filling and satisfying.  So now that I've discovered it, you can bet that I'll be mixing things up with some kabocha squash whenever I'm not eating my sweet potatoes and chestnuts.

Fluffy Kabocha squash, with a texture and taste reminiscent of roasted chestnuts

It is truly mind-boggling how many things there are to discover and eat out there!

Recipe:

Roasted Eggplant with Soy Sauce

From America's Test Kitchen's Best-Ever Cooking for Two magazine, 2014 (part of the soba noodles with roasted eggplant and sesame recipe)

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

1 1/2 teaspoons soy sauce

1 pound eggplant, cut into 1-inch cubes

Preheat oven to 450 degrees and position an oven rack in the middle position. 

Line a baking sheet with foil and brush it with 1 1/2 teaspoons of vegetable oil.  In a large bowl, whisk together the remaining 1 1/2 tablespoons oil and the soy sauce. Add eggplant and toss together to combine.  Spread onto prepared sheet in one even layer.

Roast until eggplant is browned and tender, about 25-30 minutes, stirring halfway through roasting.