Serves 3-4 people
2-4 japanese eggplants
vegetable oil (for brushing)
toasted sesame seeds and kinome (optional)
grated ginger (optional)
dengaku miso:

100 g hatcho miso (red miso)
2 tbsp sake
2 tbsp mirin
2 tbsp sugar

Recipe Courtesy of
Adam Liaw

Miso Grilled Eggplant

In Japanese cooking, this style of grilling with sweetened miso is called ‘dengaku’. Although perfect with roasted eggplant, this dengaku miso also works well with tofu, rice cakes and other vegetables. The light roasting brings out the toasty caramel flavours of the miso for a wonderfully fragrant dish.

Difficulty: Easy

Preparation: 20 min
Cook: 10 min
Clean up: 10 min

Steps: 4 steps
8 Ingredients

Difficulty: Easy
Steps: 4 steps
8 Ingredients

Preparation: 20 min
Cook: 10 min
Clean up: 10 min

Instructions

Soak eggplants
- Trim the tops from the eggplants and split them lengthways. If you like, you can soak the eggplant in cold water for about 10 minutes to remove some of the bitterness.

Mix miso paste
- For the dengaku miso, mix together all of the ingredients to a smooth paste. (If the miso is coarse, you may want to grind it slightly in a mortar and pestle.)

Score eggplant
- Lightly score the surface of the eggplant in a cross pattern and brush them with a little oil.
- Skewer the eggplant through some long metal skewers and barbeque or grill over hot coals for about 10 minutes, until the eggplants are browned,softened and cooked through.(If you prefer, you can roast the eggplant in a 200°C oven for 15 minutes.)

Coat eggplant with miso
- Brush the roasted eggplant with a thick layer of the dengaku miso and return to the grill for a few minutes until the miso is toasted and fragrant.
- Remove the skewers and scatter with sesame seeds or place a sprig of kinome into the centre of the eggplant.