Japanese Eggplant With Miso Food

GRILLED JAPANESE EGGPLANT

Steps:

• Place eggplant in a large shallow baking dish. Mix together the soy sauce, sherry, sesame oil, and garlic in a small bowl. Pour the marinade over the eggplant and let marinate at room temperature for 1 hour. Preheat grill. Season the eggplant with salt and pepper to taste and grill on each side for 3 minutes, basting occasionally with the remaining marinade. Serve topped with the toasted sesame seeds.

NASU DENGAKU - MISO GLAZED EGGPLANT

Steps:

• Slice eggplant in half and using a knife, score the inside in small squares.
• In a pan over high heat, add oil and put the eggplant skin facing down.
• Cook for a few minute until skin is brown. Turn the eggplant over and cover with a lid. Cook until eggplant is cooked through (about 3 to 4 minutes).
• Meanwhile, in a bowl, mix miso, mirin, sugar and sake.
• Cover a cooking tray with foil and place the eggplant on top. Brush miso dengaku mix on top of each eggplant until all the surface is coated.
• Put in the oven and broil for 4 minutes. The miso mix should be bubbling when you take it out of the oven.
• Sprinkle sesame seeds on top and serve hot.

MISO EGGPLANT

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 180°C / fan 160°C / 350°F / gas mark 4.
• Line a large baking tray with baking parchment and set aside.
• Halve the eggplants lengthways and flip them over. Cut a thin slice off the bottom's skin side in order to stabilise the eggplant.
• Flip it over again and score the flesh in diamond shapes. Be careful not to slice it all the way through.
• Place the eggplants in the lined baking tray and brush each half with half of the oil.
• Bake for 35-40 minutes, checking halfway through to see if more oil is required. I.e. if it looks dry, give it a brush with oil. The eggplant should be soft at the end of cooking time.
• While the eggplants are baking, make the miso sauce.
• Place all the miso sauce ingredients, except the sesame oil, in a small pot and bring to simmer.
• Continue to cook until the miso paste and sugar has dissolved.
• Stir in the sesame oil. Remove the heat and retrieve the eggplants, once cooked.
• Preheat the broiler / grill.
• Baste each eggplant with equal amounts of miso sauce then place under the broiler / grill until caramelised and golden. This will take about 3-4 minutes.
• Decorate with sesame seeds and chives. Serve immediately as a starter. Enjoy!

NOBU'S EGGPLANT WITH MISO

Steps:

• Heat oven to broil. Line a baking sheet with paper towels; set aside. In a large heavy-bottomed saucepan, heat 2 inches of oil to 360 degrees. Working in batches, place eggplants in pan, skin side up, and fry 1 minute. Turn and fry 30 seconds more. Transfer eggplants to baking sheet and let drain.
• Transfer eggplants, skin side down, to an unlined baking sheet. Spread each half with slightly more than 1 tablespoon miso. Broil until miso begins to darken and caramelize, about 30 seconds to a few minutes, depending on the strength of your broiler. Sprinkle with sesame seeds and garnish with pickled ginger and plums.

EGGPLANT WITH SWEET MISO

Steps:

• Remove the caps from the eggplant and cut them in half lengthwise.
• Put the peanut oil in a large skillet, preferably non-stick, over medium heat. About 2 minutes later, add the eggplant, skin side down. Cook until nicely browned, adjusting the heat and rotating the pieces so they brown evenly, about 10 minutes. Turn and cook on the flesh side until brown, then continue to cook, turning as necessary, until tender, another 10 minutes or so.
• When the eggplant is almost done, combine the miso, sugar, mirin, and vinegar in a small saucepan over medium heat. Cook for about 1 minute, stirring. Remove the eggplant and spread a thin coating of the miso mixture over each half; top with the sesame seeds. Serve hot or at room temperature.
• You can also grill or broil this recipe: Start a charcoal or gas grill or preheat the broiler; the rack should be about 6 inches from the heat source. Brush the eggplant slices well with oil. Place, flesh side down, on a baking sheet or directly on the grill. Broil or grill, turning as necessary, until browned on both sides, brushing with more oil if the eggplant looks dry. Proceed with step 3.

JAPANESE EGGPLANT WITH MISO

Steps:

• In a bowl mix together miso, sugar, sake, mirin, sake and egg yolk.
• Wash eggplant and cut lengthways in 1cm thick pieces. Sprinkle with salt and leave ½ hour. Rinse, pat dry then brush with a little veg oil on both sides.
• Either BBQ, grill or panfry eggplant until soft.
• Spread one side with miso mix, and sprinkle with sesame seeds. Grill for a few minutes until the miso bubbles on top.
• Serve, garnished with a little julienned spring onion greens.

MISO GLAZED EGGPLANT (NASU DENGAKU)

Steps:

• Add miso and egg yolk in a small saucepan and mix well using a spatula.
• Add the remaining Dengaku Miso ingredients of your choice and mix well.
• Place the saucepan over medium heat and constantly mix the miso sauce using a spatula.
• When the edge of the miso sauce starts bubbling, reduce the heat to the lowest setting and continue to cook and mix for about 2 minutes until the sauce thickens to the consistency of mayonnaise.
• Turn the heat off and transfer to a bowl or an air tight container. When slightly cooled down, cover with cling wrap/lid and store until required.
• The amount of one type of dengaku miso can serve 8-10 pieces of eggplant (note 4).
• Remove the stem end of the eggplant.
• If you are using one large eggplant, cut it crosswise into 2cm wide discs. There should be about 6 discs. Do not use the round end of the eggplant. If using two small eggplants, cut each of them vertically into half.
• While working on each piece of eggplant, keep the rest in a bowl filled with water. This will prevent the flesh of the eggplant from getting brownish.
• Score the eggplant flesh at 1cm intervals as far as you can without cutting through to the other side. Then score again perpendicular to the first cuts (if discs) or to make diamonds (if vertically cut eggplants).
• Run a knife around the eggplant shape, just inside of skin.
• Add the eggplant pieces and the oil in a bowl and thoroughly coat them with the oil.
• Heat a non-stick frypan over medium heat. Hold the eggplant pieces in a bowl and drain the oil into the frypan if any oil is accumulated at the bottom of the bowl.
• Place the eggplant pieces in the pan, scored side down and cook for 2 minutes.
• Turn them over and cook further 2 minutes. The eggplant flesh should become quite soft but if the thick part of the eggplant is not soft yet, place a lid on and cook further 30 seconds to 1 minute.
• Turn eggplant pieces over and transfer them onto a serving plate.
• Drop ⅓ or ½ tablespoon (note 4) of dengaku miso on each piece of eggplant and spread the miso over the entire surface of the eggplant.
• For dark miso, sprinkle white sesame seeds over the top (if using). Grate lime rind (or sprinkle dried seaweed flakes) over white miso.
• Serve while warm.

MISO-GLAZED EGGPLANT

Steps:

• Cut the eggplants in half lengthwise and cut off the stem and calyx. Using the tip of a paring knife, cut an incision down the middle of each half, making sure not to cut through the skin, but cutting down to it. Salt the eggplant lightly and let sit for 10 minutes. Meanwhile preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Line a baking sheet with foil or parchment and brush with sesame oil.
• Blot the eggplants with paper towels and place, cut side down, on the baking sheets. Roast for 15 to 20 minutes, until the skin is beginning to shrivel and the flesh is soft. Remove from the oven, carefully turn the eggplants over, and preheat the broiler.
• To make the glaze, combine the mirin and sake in the smallest saucepan you have and bring to a boil over high heat. Boil 20 seconds, taking care not to boil off much of the liquid, then turn the heat to low and stir in the miso and the sugar. Whisk over medium-low heat without letting the mixture boil, until the sugar has dissolved. Remove from the heat and whisk in the sesame oil.
• Brush the eggplants with the miso glaze, using up all of the glaze. Place under the broiler, about 2 inches from the heat, and broil for about 1 minute, until the glaze begins to bubble and looks shiny. Remove from the heat. Allow to cool if desired or serve hot. To serve, cut the eggplant halves on the diagonal into 1- to 1-1/2-inch slices.

NASU DENGAKU (GRILLED JAPANESE EGGPLANT WITH MISO PASTE)

Steps:

• For the sauce, whisk the dashi, sugar, mirin, miso and corn starch together. Heat over medium heat stirring until the sauce thickens. Take it off the heat and add the yuzu whisking it in to the sauce.
• For the eggplant, slice them in half lengthwise and score a criss-cross pattern into them to help retain the sauce. Brush with oil and grill on a BBQ or under a broiler until the tops are a dark brown and the eggplant is cooked. Give the sliced sides a good coating of sauce, sprinkle with sesame seeds then put under a broiler to get a little caramelization (be careful, this sauce will burn quickly).
• Serve immediately with some rice.

MISO EGGPLANT

Steps:

• Slice eggplant into 1/4-inch circles.
• Fry in sesame seed oil for a few minutes.
• Add water and mirin or sake and cover and simmer until tender.
• Mix miso, soy sauce and sugar in a small bowl.
• Add to the eggplant mixture and stir-fry.
• Optional: For a thicker "gravy", Mix optional cornstarch and water together. Bring to boil and add cornstarch mixture. Let boil for one more minute, stirring constantly and lower temperature to simmer for 5 more minutes.

MISO GLAZED GRILLED JAPANESE EGGPLANT

Steps:

• Preheat a charcoal grill or kamado-style ceramic charcoal cooker for direct grilling over high heat.
• Whisk together the miso, mirin, sugar and 2 tablespoons water until combined.
• Brush the cut-side of the eggplant with the oil and season with salt and pepper. Grill the eggplant, cut-side down, until lightly golden brown, about 4 minutes. Turn the eggplant over, brush with some of the glaze and continue grilling for 2 more minutes. Brush with more glaze, flip over and grill until the cut-side is caramelized, about 4 minutes. Remove to a platter, cut-side up, and sprinkle with mint.

JAPANESE EGGPLANT WITH SICHUAN PEPPER

Steps:

• Slice the eggplant into 1 to 2-inch segments, depending on the width of the eggplant. Set up a steamer on the stovetop. Season the segments with salt. Place the eggplant in the steamer in a single layer and cook until softened, about 8 minutes. Cool on paper towels.
• For the vinaigrette, trim the garlic cloves and mash gently with the side of your knife, then finely chop the garlic. Peel and chop the ginger root.
• Trim and slice the scallion on a bias. Save the white part for the vinaigrette and the green part for a finishing garnish. Keep the greens fresh by covering them with a moist, cool paper towel. Chop the cilantro.
• To assemble the vinaigrette, put the three oils and the Sichuan peppercorns in a small pot set over low heat. Heat until sizzling, then strain out the peppercorns. Discard the peppercorns and put the oil back into the pot. Add the garlic and ginger and heat until sizzling but not browned. Add the scallion whites and Sichuan bean paste and stir. Add the black vinegar, soy, mirin, wine, sugar, sesame seeds and cilantro and bring to a boil.
• Transfer the vinaigrette to a bowl and cool. Put the eggplant in a serving dish and season with the cooled sauce (depending on eggplant size, you may not need all the sauce-the sauce keeps for a week refrigerated) and sprinkle with the scallion greens. Finish with freshly ground black pepper, if you'd like a little more peppercorn flavor.

GRILLED MISO GLAZED JAPANESE EGGPLANT

Steps:

• Preheat grill to medium (grill side, not hot plate) or a heavy based pan over medium heat. It's important only to use medium heat because otherwise the eggplant will burn before it cooks through.
• Combine the Miso Glaze ingredients and whisk to combine and remove lumps.
• Brush the cut side of each eggplant with the oil. Do it 2 to 3 times to use up all the oil.
• Place the cut side down on the grill and cook for 4 minutes until it turns a light golden brown.
• Turn over, and cook for 3 to 4 minutes. While it is cooking, use a spoon to spread a generous amount of Miso Glaze on the cut side of each eggplant.
• Squeeze the side of the eggplant with your tongs (or fingers if you can handle the heat!) to check for doneness - it should be squishy and soft.
• Turn over and grill just for 30 seconds to 1 minute, just to caramelise the glaze.
• Remove from grill, garnish with shallots and sesame seeds and serve immediately.

JAPANESE EGGPLANT (AUBERGINE) SAUTE

Steps:

• Combine Soy sauce, mirin, crushed garlic and ginger in a bowl.
• Slice your eggplant thinly and into small pieces.
• Toss eggplant in hot pan (I use a spray oil like Pam) with the sauce mixture.
• Sauté at a medium heat until very tender, about 10 minutes.
• Add a little water to keep the veg moist if necessary.
• Great as a side dish for fish or chicken.
• Add diced medium firm tofu or any other protein for a very simple, quick meal.

GRILLED JAPANESE EGGPLANT WITH CITRUS MISO SAUCE

Steps:

• Combine all ingredients except eggplant and salt and pepper in a saucepan and bring to a simmer. Let cool. Preheat grill. Season eggplant with salt and pepper to taste and brush with miso sauce. Grill for 3 to 4 minutes on each side, basting with marinade.

JAPANESE EGGPLANT WITH HARICOTS VERTS AND THAI RED CURRY

Steps:

• Heat oil in wok or heavy large skillet over high heat until hot. Add eggplant strips and toss to coat with oil. Stir-fry until eggplant strips begin to brown, about 2 minutes. Add haricots verts and stir-fry until eggplant strips are tender and haricots verts are crisp-tender, about 1 minute. Add garlic and ginger and stir-fry 10 seconds. Add miso mixture, soy sauce and curry paste and stir until liquids thicken, about 30 seconds. Transfer to bowl and serve.