Nasu to hamu no hasamiage

Deep-fried eggplant and ham roll

Easy to make, this recipe is popular as a side dish or as a snack.

*If you're curious about how to pronounce the name of the dish, it's 'nah-soo toh hamoo noh ha-sah-mee-ageh'. The hamu is from the English word ham and is pronounced much the same, except the 'm' is drawn out to make it sound like 'moo' (like a cow mooing).

Ingredients

Japanese Long Eggplant: one eggplant will make about 3 'full-size' rolls and 2 small rolls

sliced ham luncheon meat (as used for sandwiches)

wooden toothpicks

olive oil or sesame-seed oil for deep frying

Slice eggplants lengthwise to form long strips about 1/4 inch (about 6mm) in thickness. Soak eggplants for about an hour in fresh, cold water to remove the astringent taste. Remove eggplants from water and blot to remove excess water. Cut ham into strips to match the length of the sliced eggplants. Roll the eggplant and ham as you would in rolling up a carpet and pierce with the toothpick to hold the roll together. Heat oil in preparation for deep-frying. Deep-fry until the eggplant's color changes from light green to yellow. Remove rolls and place on paper towel to blot excess oil.

CAUTION: Be careful in using the heated oil. Oil may spatter when deep-frying

Serving suggestions:

Some people like to eat this after pouring soy sauce on the rolls

For another variation, try coating the eggplants with tempura batter before deep-frying

Best eaten while still warm or hot