Personally, I find one of the flavors which really heightens vegetarian food is umami. Umami is one of the five basic tastes, and it is easily found in meats and meat based broths. In vegetarian food, it can help to be more thoughtful about how we can incorporate that flavor to different dishes to add depth of flavor which is sometimes lacking without meat. Umami, as a word, is originally Japanese and roughly translates to “deliciousness” or “pleasant savory taste”. Which makes sense, as umami as a concept is distinctly Japanese, it was discovered by a Chemistry Professor named Kikunae Ikeda when he decided to try and understand why his dashi broth was particularly savory after adding kelp to it. His curiosity led to the chemical understanding today that umami is driven by glutamates. 

So, in a lot of my recipes, I have taken to using ingredients of Japanese descent: rice vinegar, soy sauce, miso. They all add not only saltiness, but the umami flavor which so often is neglected in vegetarian food. When recently thinking through ingredients I want to cook with, I realized that while I had experimented with lots of Japanese flavors before, one which I had yet to try was wasabi. I’ve always had a certain affinity for the visceral zing a nice bite of wasabi brings, so I set off with the two flavors I wanted to showcase: umami and wasabi. 

I think this recipe does a pretty darn good job of highlighting those ingredients. We create an umami rich base through marinated eggplant and nutritional yeast pan-fried tofu and compliment it with an acidic and zingy wasabi coleslaw. We tie it all together with a bed of rice with sesame seeds and shredded nori. I hope this recipe will light up your umami taste buds in the near future. 

Active Time 40 minutes

Cook Time 25 minutes

Servings 4-5 

Ingredients:

Marinated Eggplant

• 2 eggplants
• 1 tbsp miso
• 1 tbsp sesame oil 
• 1 tbsp mirin (sub for sugar if not available) 

Wasabi slaw

• 1/2 green cabbage
• 1 white onion
• 1/4 Kewpie mayo (sub for regular mayo if not available
• 1/4 cup rice vinegar
• 1 tbsp mirin
• 1 tsp wasabi enough
• whatever your heart desires of MSG

Tofu & the rest

• 1 block  extra firm tofu
• 2 tbsp nutritional yeast
• Neutral oil, for cooking
• Preferred rice, cooked (I like long grain brown)
• Sesame seeds and nori flakes

Directions

1. Begin the process of salting the eggplants about an hour before cooking. This is an optional step, but will help the eggplant keep its shape better while cooking and absorb more flavor. Cube the eggplant into 1 cm cubes. Fill a large mixing bowl with cold water and add a tbsp of salt, stir until salt is dissolved. Add in the eggplant and let sit for 30 minutes to an hour. When ready to begin cooking simply drain and pat down the eggplant with a clean kitchen towel. 
2. Preheat the oven to 425F. In the same large mixing bowl, add in the miso, sesame oil, mirin, and a tbsp of neutral oil. Whisk until the miso is broken down and marinade is a consistent slurry. Toss the eggplant in it. Let eggplant marinate while the oven heats. Once the oven is to temperature, add the eggplant to a large lined baking sheet. Cook the eggplant for 25-28 minutes, checking and tossing halfway. The eggplant should be well roasted and thoroughly browned by the end. Set aside when complete. 
3. Next, make the slaw. Cut the half cabbage into two wedges and very thinly slice the cabbage, this can be done by hand or with a mandoline. Do the same with the white onion, cut it into very thin semi-circle slices. Toss in the same large mixing bowl from before with a generous pinch of salt. 
4. Make the coleslaw sauce, combine the kewpie mayo, rice vinegar, mirin, wasabi with a ½ tsp of salt and whisk. Pour over the cabbage and toss to combine. Taste and adjust for salt and wasabi levels. The slaw should have a pronounced wasabi flavour as it will be topping other ingredients. 
5. Finally, make the tofu. Either with the back of a fork or with clean hands, crumble the tofu. Heat a large pan (preferably non-stick) over high heat. Add in a generous splash of oil, the tofu, the nutritional yeast and a few generous pinches of salt. Cook for 8-10 minutes stirring frequently until the tofu is browning and becoming chewy. 
6. Now it is time to plate. Begin with a base of rice, then layer on the eggplant, the cole slaw and finally the tofu. Optional garnishes include nori flakes and sesame seeds. Enjoy!