Baked Eggplant with Miso

I've heard a lot about eggplant with miso or nasu dengaku from my flatmate, Mr. P. Mr. P's pretty fabulous at dishing up some Japanese cuisines, especially when he entertains. However, my first encounter with the eggplant dish was at my favourite Japanese restaurant, which had proper Japanese chefs instead of Cantonese-spewing Hong Kong men.

The frustrating fact that I've heard so much about it and have never tasted it (Mr. P confessed he's made it twice before - when I'm not around) made me pretty determine to order the damn dish. And he was right - it is good and I absolutely love it!

I was very excited when I saw it in the weekend newspaper. I had an eggplant lying in my fridge for weeks and this was the perfect chance to use it. I've adapted the recipe to suit one eggplant rather than eight. So, feel free to adjust the proportions according to your gastrointestinal capacity.

Baked Eggplant with Miso (Nasu Dengaku)
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serves 2

• 2 tbsp mirin
• 2 tbsp sake
• 1/4 cup white miso paste
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 1 large eggplant, halved
• 1 tbsp roasted sesame seeds
  

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 180c.
2. Combine the mirin and sake and cook for 1 minute on low heat.
3. Add the miso paste and whisk until dissolve.
4. Add sugar and stir consistently until sugar has completely dissolved.
5. Make criss-cross markings on the eggplant with a knife (it'll allow heat to penetrate and cook the vegetable quicker).
6. Heat oil in pan. Cook eggplant until slightly brown.
7. Remove and brush miso mixture on eggplant.
8. Bake eggplant for 20 - 30 minutes or until the eggplant starts to blister and caramelize.
9. Sprinkle roasted sesame seeds and serve immediately.