🍱 Nasu to Ingen no Abura Miso (stir-fried eggplants and green beans with miso)

Eggplant is a representative vegetable from summer to autumn. Inland Tochigi Prefecture, where the temperatures soar during the summer, making it suitable for cultivation, eggplant was a familiar vegetable not only for farmers but also for those with even a small plot of land to cultivate it. There are numerous eggplant dishes, such as pickled in rice bran and miso soup, but one of the most popular during the summer is "Nasu to Ingen no Abura Miso," where chopped eggplant is stir-fried in oil and coated with a mixture of miso and sugar. In Itato, Utsunomiya City, there is a tradition during the summer festival called "Tensai" where people consume "Nasu to Ingen no Abura Miso". In regions where eggplant is cultivated, excluding the mountainous areas in the northwest, it is commonly enjoyed not only during festivals but also on regular weekdays.