Everyday Harumi :: Fried Chicken and Spicy Eggplant

I decided to make the fried chicken again after catching the Your Japanese Kitchen, the Harumi Kurihara cooking show on NHK World. On the show, she cut the pieces smaller - nugget sizes - which did make it much easier to cook. She also said to lift the chicken out of the oil 3-4 times while frying to make the nuggets extra crispy. It works, but is a little scary - one slip of a chopstick and SPLASH - fried oil cannonball!!!

I'm a little tired of rice eight now so I made cold udon noodles instead - kind of unorthadox for fried chicken, but yummy nonetheless. This was my first go at the spicy eggplant side and must say, I'm
blown away at how delicious it is. I don't actually like eggplant all that much, but this was really flavorful. The texture is my main issue, but this tasted so good I didn't care about the mushiness. The eggplant is deep fried then tossed in a dressing of soy sauce, mirin, rice vinegar, minced leeks, ginger, garlic and chili peppers. I used it as s topping for my udon bento today and it was a great combination.