Nasu Dengaku (Miso Aubergine)

Ease:: Medium
Serves:: 1-2
Prep time:: 10 minutes
Cook time:: 20 minutes
Total time:: 30 minutes

Nasu dengaku, or miso aubergine (eggplant), is a vegetable side dish of cooked aubergine topped with sweet/savoury miso glazed sauce. Make your own with this recipe.

Ingredients

1 aubergine

**white miso sauce:**

80g white miso paste

2 tsp mirin rice wine

1 1/2 tbsp sugar

2 tsp water

**red miso sauce:**

80g hatcho red miso

2 tsp mirin rice wine

2 tbsp sugar

2 tsp water

a sprinkle of sesame seeds

vegetable oil

Method

Cut the aubergine: slice your aubergine in half. Leave the stalk on and carefully cut around the edge of the aubergine, as close to the skin as possible without the danger of poking a hole. Score very lightly the back of the aubergine to make a grid like pattern.

Cook the aubergines: pre-heat some vegetable oil in a pan. Add the aubergines and slowly cook over a medium heat. Flip them over every so often, making sure both sides are evenly cooked.

Remove the aubergines from the pan: pat them dry, making sure you remove as much oil as possible. Leave to one side.

Make the white miso sauce: in a separate pan, add 80g white miso paste, 2 tsp mirin rice wine, 1.5 tbsp sugar and 2 tsp water. Mix well then begin to heat on your stove. Stir slowly and make sure the miso doesn’t burn. When the miso has thickened to roughly its original texture, it’s ready to use.

Repeat the previous step to make your red miso sauce: carefully spoon some of both sauces onto your aubergines and garnish with a sprinkle of sesame. Enjoy with a glass of brown rice genmai tea, its rustic roasty flavour is a nice match to the sweet and salty aubergines.