Koneri (Thickened Eggplant and Pepper Stir-Fry)
Quick answer
- Total time
- 30 min
- Level
- Easy
- Servings
- 4 servings
- Ingredients
- 8
About this dish
Koneri is a summer home dish from Bungo Ono in Oita, where fried vegetables are bound with a thick mixture of miso and wheat flour.
Read more
This version uses eggplant and green peppers with small dried sardines, which season the oil before the vegetables soften. Flour, miso, sugar, and water are whisked together and stirred into the pan over low heat until the raw flour cooks away and the sauce clings to every piece. The flour captures the moisture released by the vegetables instead of leaving liquid in the pan. Its name is linked to the kneading and stirring action, and related household versions often use the region's abundant bitter melon.
Instructions
Read the steps as a cooking flow: prep, heat, seasoning, doneness control, and finish.
- 1Prep
Trim the eggplants and cut into 7 mm half-moons or thick 5 cm strips.
Soak in cold water for 5 minutes, drain, and dry the surfaces thoroughly.
- 2Prep
Remove the pepper stems and seeds and cut into thin strips similar in length to the eggplant.
Pick out any large innards or loose fragments from the dried sardines.
- 3Season
Put the flour, miso, and sugar in a bowl and whisk in the water gradually.
Mix into a thick slurry with no visible lumps of miso or flour.
- 4Control
Heat the cooking oil in a wide pan over medium heat and add the dried sardines and eggplant.
Fry for 5 to 6 minutes until the eggplant is coated and wilted, then add the peppers and cook 2 minutes more.
- 5Control
Reduce the heat to low and pour the flour and miso slurry across the pan.
Stir continuously, scraping the bottom, for 3 to 4 minutes. Turn off the heat when the raw flour smell is gone and the thick coating clings evenly to the eggplant and peppers.
Practical Cooking Checks
The cues that matter most while cooking.
- Key technique
- Dried sardines and eggplant season the oil first.
- Finish cue
- Reduce the heat to low and pour the flour and miso slurry across the pan.
- Avoid this
- High heat after adding the flour slurry burns the bottom before the flour cooks through.
- Substitution
- The flour captures the moisture released by the vegetables instead of leaving liquid in the pan.
Cooking decision evidence
Calculated Charim data and applicable official food safety guidance.
This recipe
30min, 8 ingredients
Category median
27min, 8 ingredients
Based on 206 recipes
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