We grew Japanese eggplant in 2008 and it was a lovely, slender, mild vegetable. We started throwing together Eggplant Parmesan on a regular basis and developed a few techniques that we really liked. I didn't know how it would work with the smaller eggplant, but I just cut each one into 4 spears and then dredged and breaded it the same way you would the larger slices, browned them in olive oil, layered them with sauce and cheese, and it worked quite well. I even skipped the step of salting the eggplant and letting it sit to leach out extra water.For the breading, we really like Panko bread crumbs. I thought they were a bit trendy, but after trying them, the crunchy difference is really outstanding. If I don't have them, I will toast fresh bread crumbs to get a similar texture. My order for breading the eggplant spears is dipping first into flour seasoned with salt and pepper (we use whole wheat pastry flour almost exclusively at our house), then into eggs beaten with a little water, then into the bread crumbs that have been seasoned with Italian seasoning. I then pan fry them on low heat in olive oil, and let them sit on paper towels after they are browned.
We make a homemade sauce, sometimes with, and sometimes without meat. Look at the post on Stuffed Zucchini to get the components of our sauce. We also will add some Provolone or Mozarella cheese to the Parmesan Cheese to make it a little more "melty".
I generally bake it at 350 degrees for 45 minutes to an hour. It depends on the size of your pan and how tender the eggplant are. I just poke into the dish with a sharp knife to see if the eggplant is thoroughly cooked. In this last picture you can see the individual spears of eggplant. It is just as delicious as it looks!
