Eggplant and okra with miso sauce (合わせ味噌になすびとオクラ）

New words:

なすび　－　nasubi or nasu - eggplant

オクラ　－　okura - okra

味噌　－みそ　－ miso -  fermented soybean paste

合わせ味噌　－　awase miso - the miso made from a combination of soybean and rice

Here is a delicious way of eating vegetables without any meat in a viand.  Eggplant and okra with fermented soybean paste or miso sauce is delicious over a hot bowl of rice.  It is extra simple to prepare this.  Slices of eggplant are fried in oil (Here, I used grapeseed oil as it is known to be good for the heart). I tried to use as minimal oil as possible.  After frying the eggplant without really making them very soft, I poured the diluted soybean paste (with water) and okra.  just letting the mixture boil until the okra becomes tender.

I then added a little soy sauce with a pinch of sugar.  A variation of this is to add the so called "men tsuyu" or the dip used when one eats Japanese noodles such as "udon" (wheat noodles) or "soba" (buckwheat noodles); the dip is a light combination of soysauce, sugar, and flavorful extracts from bonito.

Eggplant and okra in miso sauce