I’ve had Miso Glazed Eggplants when I’m out for dinner and have absolutely loved them! I’ve always seen restaurants using the bigger, Italian style eggplants, but not the thin long Japanese variety that I’ve utilised in my recipe. You can also use Chinese eggplants, which are lighter in colour than the Japanese ones.
There’s something about this flavour combination that I really like. I love Asian food and have started making more of it at home. Even though I love it, I find that I’ll still use ingredients that I can get my hands on easily and products that I won’t just use for one speciality dish and let it sit in my fridge or pantry for another few months until I make that dish again. I’ve become more of a conscious consumer lately with the food I’m buying as well. I’ll only buy ingredients that I know I will use, rather than taking a risk and trying something too different that may end up accumulating space in my pantry or fridge for months.
So, I used ingredients that I always have in my kitchen to make this glaze for the eggplant. I actually managed to get it spot on from the first time I made it. I was pretty proud of myself!
Note also that I’ll make this dish mainly in Summer when eggplants are in season and in abundance. Buying seasonally is so important! Even when buying seasonally, try and buy organic where possible. Avoiding these fruits and vegetables when not organic, and feeling okay buying these when organic isn’t available. Note that I would avoid the non-organic corn and papaya in that last list linked above.
I was really pleasantly surprised how quick and easy it was to make this. If you have some cooked rice in the fridge, this is ready in 20 minutes. I can typically only fit two sliced eggplants in my frying pan at a time, so that’s why it takes a little longer. But if you can fit all three, you can get this done in only around 10 minutes. If you want something more robust, you can add a green side salad. I love doing a simple baby leaves salad mix and thinly sliced radish and dress it with olive oil, balsamic vinegar and salt.
Ingredients
- 3 Japanese (long) eggplants, cut in half and scaled (cut up inside)
- 2 tbsp frying oil
- 2 tbsp good quality (non-GM soy/organic) dark miso paste
- 1 tsp toasted sesame seeds
- 1.5 tbsp toasted sesame oil
- 1 tbsp maple syrup
- 1 tsp apple cider vinegar
- 1 tsp water
Instructions
- Grill eggplant skin down on pan, flip after 4-5 minutes and fry on other side.
- In the meantime, place all glaze ingredients in a jar and shake well to combine.
- Plate up eggplant and smear the miso glaze over each eggplant evenly.
- Serve on bed of cooked rice. You can also accompany it with a side salad of greens.
Super easy right? Let me know what you think of this one in the comments below.
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Cooking is one of the things that I’m also trying to get better at. Thanks for sharing all these recipes!
That’s great to hear Sandra! You’re welcome 🙂