Not contrary!

I am not posting to be contrary, but only because I was talking with Lau just now about the eggplant I was cooking for dinner, and we tagged la Gadda's recent post (evocative, simple, nice: "go away: eggplant"). Lau asked me what I do with it, and, well, this is what I do with it:

Let's call it "Wabes'-I-Swear-You-Should-At-Least-Try-It, Eggplant-Haters" eggplant

4 good-sized japanese eggplants
2 T tamari or regular soy sauce (I use low-sodium tamari)
2 T mirin rice wine
1 t peeled, grated fresh ginger
squirt of Sriracha (to taste, I top out at 1/2 teaspoon)
chopped chives and/or
1 large clove of garlic, minced

NB: If you're keen on garlic, throw it in about a minute before you put in the sauce, as below. It should just warm enough to be fragrant, not brown. Take care that the garlic doesn't get burned, stir it around well and keep an eye on it, and if it's browning too fast, throw in the sauce then.

Slice eggplant on the diagonal into 1-in pieces, halving any that are larger than bite-sized. Dissolve 1 T kosher salt in a big bowl of water, leaving enough room to fit the eggplant in. Toss in eggplant, stir with your hands, cover with a plate to weigh the eggplant down, and wait 20 minutes or so (or while you're prepping the sauce, making soba noodles to go with it, whatever). Rinse eggplant and leave in a colander to drain a bit more.

Meanwhile, stir together mirin, soy sauce, ginger, and seven-spice powder.

Heat oil in a 12-inch heavy skillet over medium-high heat until it shimmers, then sauté eggplant until browned, about 8 minutes. Give it time to brown on a given side, it doesn't have to be watched too carefully. [If adding garlic, add at around minute 7...but it's not exact, see above.] Lower heat, stir in mirin mixture and cook, gently turning frequently, until sauce becomes a glaze and eggplant is browned and tender, about 1 minute. Serve hot or at room temperature, sprinkled with chives.

Recipe can be doubled without any trouble. It is absolutely super with soba noodles that have some sesame oil & seeds & soy sauce tossed through them, or nice brown rice.

Based on this, and some lovely eggplants I had.