BBQed Eggplant with miso

Ingredients
6 Long thin eggplants
2 tbsp Red miso paste
2 tbsp Mayonnaise
black sesame seeds to garnish

Method
Use long thin eggplants.
Mix the miso and mayonnaise together in a bowl.
Split the eggplants lengthways, so you have the two halves.
Score the inside face of the eggplants in a large cross-hatch pattern, careful not to cut too deep or the eggplant will fall apart.
Place the eggplant, open side down on a medium BBQ grill.
Cook until slightly scorched.
Remove from the heat and spread the miso mayo mixture evenly on the now scorched eggplant surface.
Not too thin but not too thick - heavily "buttered" is fine.
Return to the grill, skin side down.
When the skin starts to blister they should be done - remove from heat.
Garnish by sprinkling lightly with the black sesame seeds.
Wait for them to cool slightly before eating.

Barbecued Eggplants

This one is japanese-style

Ingredients
6 long thin eggplants
3 tbsp miso
3 tbsp egg mayonnaise
Black sesame seeds

Method
Toast the black sesame seeds until they start to pop [in a dry frying pan on low heat]
Combine the mayonnaise and miso.

Cut the eggplants in two lengthwise.
Score in a cross-cross pattern on the cut side of the eggplants.
On a barbecue grill, grill the cut side until starting to brown.
Coat the browned cut side with the miso/mayo mixture.
Return to the grill - grill the skin side until just starting to burn.
Sprinkle back sesame seeds on the miso/mayo mixture.

Ohitashi

For two people

Ingredients
1 bunch English spinach, washed and trimmed. Not silver beet
water
sesame oil
sesame seeds

Method
Toast the sesame seeds in a dry frypan until they start to pop and remove from the pan to cool.
Boil the water in a medium saucepan.
Dunk the spinach - keep it in the water until the leaves have wilted and the bulk of the leaves is reduced. Less than 2 minutes.

Place half the spinach onto a japanese bamboo sushi mat. The final shape you're after is like a little cup about 2cm in diameter, maybe 6 cm tall.
Roll the spinach in the bamboo mat and squeeze out excess moisture.

Arrange the little cup of spinach in a bowl, one per person and dress it with the sesame oil, just a teaspoon or so and the toasted sesame seeds.

Agedashi Tofu

Ingredients
for three serves
1 block silken tofu
1 cup dashi
1 tbsp soy
1 tbsp mirin
potato starch or corn starch
vegetable oil

Garnish - fresh ginger, green onions, finely-grated daikon

Make the sauce first
Combine the dashi, soy and mirin bring to the boil
Serve hot

Tofu
Silken tofu is delicate, so be careful when handling it. It falls apart easily.
It can be compressed between two plates, wrapped in a paper towel but I haven't found to make much [if any] difference...

Method
Cut the tofu into medium size pieces say 3 x 3cm
Coat the pieces with the corn/potato starch. Don't let it sit too long - it may become soggy!
Fry the pieces in hot vegetable oil until golden - when the coating is golden and crisp, it holds the tofu together.
Remove from oil and drain well.

Serve in individual bowls, three pieces each.
Pour a little sauce over each, not to cover the tofu but to give a little soup.
Garnish with a combination of fresh ginger, green onions or daikon, to taste

Zaru Soba

An excellent summer dish. Make the sauce ahead of time. It keeps in the fridge for a few weeks.
The dish is traditionally served in a zaru [flat basket tray] which allows the noodles to drain, but you can serve them in a standard bowl.

Ingredients
Soba noodles [try cha-soba, green tea soba, as a variation]
Wasabi
Nori, cut into thin strips
green onions sliced finely

Sauce [enough for 2 serves at least]
1.25 cups dashi [if you use instant dashi get one with no MSG]
0.5 cup of shoyu
0.25 cup mirin
1 tsp sugar

Combine the ingredients and simmer until the sugar is dissolved. Cool.

Method
Cook the soba in plenty of boiling water.
After you add the noodles, and when the water comes back to the boil, add a glass of cold water, to stop the cooking momentarily. Repeat that step three times.
The noodles should then be al dente, slightly firm to the bite If not, keep boiling and repeat the cold water step one more time.
Once the noodles are cooked, drain them from the hot water and run cold water through them until they are cooled.
Arrange the noodles on the zaru [or in a bowl]
Garnish with the nori strips.

Serve with a small pyramid of wasabi, green onions. Place about 0.3 cup of sauce into a small bowl.
To eat, put a small amount of wasabi into the sauce, with green onions to taste. Using chopsticks move some noodles in to the sauce bowl and eat the noodles directly from the sauce-bowl.