Miso Eggplant (Nasu Dengaku)
I love this recipe because you don’t need a whole lot of ingredients. You want to make sure you’ve got some fresh eggplant ready. I recommend getting American Eggplant because this variety is usually bigger and has thick meaty flesh, making for a juicy and creamy miso eggplant. If you can find small Japanese eggplants, make 3, so there’s enough to satisfy your hunger. The smaller the eggplant, the less bitter it tastes. However, choose medium-sized, so it still has enough succulent flesh.
Servings 2 people
Ingredients
- 2 medium-sized eggplants (or three small ones)
- 2 tablespoons of vegetable or canola oil
- ¼ cup of miso preferably awase, which is a combination of white and red miso
- 2 tablespoons of mirin
- 2 tablespoons of sake
- 1 tablespoon of sugar
- 1 scallion finely chopped
- sesame seeds for garnishing
Instructions
- The first step is to slice your eggplant in half. Take each piece and score the insides into small square shapes using a knife.
- Grab a non-stick pan with a lid and add your cooking oil. Once the oil is hot, place your eggplants with the skin facing down. Let it cook for a few minutes. Turn the eggplant around with skin facing upwards.
- Put the lid on and let it fry until the eggplant browns. This usually takes about 3 or 4 minutes.
- Take a bowl and add your mirin, sake, miso paste, and sugar. Mix well until you get a fine paste.
- On a baking tray, add tin foil and place your cooked eggplant pieces on the tray.
- Brush your miso dengaku mix on each piece of eggplant, coating generously.
- Place the eggplant into the oven and let it broil on high heat for approximately 3 or 4 minutes.
- Check to see that the miso paste is bubbling before you take it out. It should be caramelized.
- Sprinkle sesame seeds and garnish with finely chopped scallion.
