Cook Do Kyo no Ozara Sweet Miso Stir-Fried Pork Belly and Eggplant

Remove the calyx from the eggplant. Hold the knife at an angle and shave around the calyx as if sharpening a pencil. Cutting straight across at the calyx wastes the edible part underneath.

Finally, cut off the stem at the top. Cut the eggplant in half lengthwise, then cut into bite-sized rangiri (rolling-cut) pieces. Prepare the remaining eggplant the same way, cutting a total of 4 medium eggplants.

Cut the thinly sliced pork belly into bite-sized pieces. That completes all the cutting.

Add 2 tablespoons of vegetable oil to a frying pan and heat over medium heat. Non-stick pans are damaged by heating them empty, so add the oil first. For an iron pan, heat it first and then add the oil.

Once the pan is hot, add all the eggplant and immediately stir-fry over medium heat while coating every piece with oil. Working the oil in quickly spreads it over the surface for a soft, juicy finish. Stir-frying without moving the pieces leads to uneven oil absorption and inconsistent texture.

Once the eggplant is thoroughly cooked through, remove it from the pan.

Keeping the heat at medium, add the thinly sliced pork belly to the pan and stir-fry while separating the pieces. Overcooking renders out too much fat and makes it crisp, so cooking just until the color changes is enough.

Once the pork belly is lightly browned on the surface and cooked through, turn off the heat and return the eggplant you cooked earlier to the pan.

With the heat off, take the Cook Do Kyo no Ozara for Pork Belly and Eggplant blended seasoning out of the packet and add it.

Heat again over medium heat and stir-fry briefly until the seasoning coats everything. The eggplant and pork belly are already cooked, so this only takes a short time. It's done once it takes on a glossy sheen.

Serve on a plate. It's also delicious served over rice as a donburi.