Poached Japanese Eggplant, Donburi

Poached Japanese Eggplant, Donburi

I got some beautiful Japanese eggplant at the Farm at 180.
Japanese eggplant is long, thin, and almost purple black.
It is milder than globe eggplant most often found at the grocery.

Start by cutting off the ends of the eggplant
then cut in half and half the halves.
Steam the eggplant till almost soft.
I steamed the eggplant a little too long.
Cook one cup of white rice in two cups of water.
Set aside covered to keep warm.

Lightly score the flesh and sauté in a bit of olive oil till browned.

Meanwhile make a glaze of 
6 tablespoons of mirin or sake
2 teaspoons kelp powder dissolved in 2/3 cup hot tap water
(I couldn't find kelp powder so I finely ground one sheet of nori;
nori is the seaweed sheets used to make sushi)
2 tablespoons of light soy sauce, I used aminos
1 teaspoon sugar
2 tablespoons of maple syrup.

Sauté eggplant till browned then spoon half the sauce
over the top and cook till sauce is absorbed.
Remove poached eggplant and place on bed of rice.

Reduce extra sauce in same pan till thickened.

Pour reduced sauce over the top allowing it to trickle down on rice.
I forgot to sprinkle some white sesame seeds 
and garnish with some scallions.
I need to do a little tweaking on this recipe but
Gary said he doesn't like eggplant and he scarfed it up.