Week 2 focused on agemono or preparing deep-fried foods. We made fried eggplant with denagaku sauce (a miso glaze) and toriniku karaage (marinated, fried chicken).

In dengaku sauce, egg yolks add a creamy richness to the miso, mirin and sugar.  The egg yolks are gently heated over a double boiler to kill any pathogens before eating.

As the vegetable component of the oh so healthy fried meal, eggplants were sliced and scored before frying.  (When we made this at home, we baked the eggplant instead.)

Deboned chicken legs are marinated in ginger, soy, mirin and onion.  Before shallow frying in (peanut) oil, they are dried and dredged in flour or potato starch.

The finished product: dengaku sauce is used to glaze the eggplant and chicken strips.  The chicken was tender and succulent and the dengaku added a great salty/umami edge.