30-Minute Miso Eggplant (Nasu Dengaku)

Ingredient Notes

What is miso? Miso is a fermented soybean paste. It’s commonly used in sauces, dressings, soups, and even baked goods! It combines soybeans with koji (an ingredient made from rice, barley, or soybeans). Miso has a funky, salty-sweet flavor.

• Japanese eggplant or Chinese eggplant: these are both long, thin eggplant — their skin is thinner, and they cook quickly! You can use other eggplant, such as Italian eggplant, just make note of the change in cook time, as directed below.
• White miso paste
• Mirin or rice wine vinegar
• Sesame oil
• Sake
• Brown sugar
• Kosher salt
• Garnishes: scallions, cilantro, sesame seeds, and crushed peanuts! These add great flavor, texture, and help to brighten up the rich umami from the white miso paste.

You’ll also need a small mixing bowl, a whisk, a large 10-12″ skillet or pan, and a fish spatula. The pan pictured here is from Staub.

How To Make Miso Eggplant

1. Score the eggplant. Preheat an oven to 425F. Cut the eggplant in half lengthwise, then use a paring knife to cut a cross hatch pattern into the flesh without cutting through the skin.
2. Roast the eggplant. Add ¼ cup extra virgin olive oil to a large pan. Season the scored eggplant with ¼ tsp Kosher salt, then place cut side down in the pan. Roast for 15-20 minutes (larger eggplant will need closer to 25 minutes), then use a very thin fish spatula to carefully flip the eggplant.
3. Make the miso glaze. In a medium bowl, combine ⅓ cup white miso paste, ¼ cup mirin or rice wine vinegar, 2 Tbsp sesame oil, 1 Tbsp sake, and 1 Tbsp brown sugar, then whisk well.
4. Glaze the eggplant. Pour or brush the miso glaze on top of each flipped eggplant (on the flesh side). Cook 5 minutes more for small Japanese eggplant, and up to 10 minutes more for larger eggplant. Note: the miso will begin to bubble and thicken as it cooks. We recommend only using the miso for the last 5 minutes of cook time. If using larger eggplant, cook them for 5-10 minutes once flipped, and THEN add the miso glaze. Return to the oven for the final 5 minutes of cook time.
5. Garnish and serve. Garnish the miso eggplant with scallions, cilantro, sesame seeds, and crushed or finely chopped peanuts. Serve immediately.

How To Serve

This miso eggplant recipe is delicious on its own, but try serving it with the following to make it a more complete meal:

• blistered shishito peppers
• chili bourbon glazed salmon
• sushi rice
• beef negimaki
• shoyu tamago (soy sauce eggs)
• ahi tuna poke bowls
• miso soup

You can also double the miso marinade and pour it on top of salmon or other seafood, brush it on top of grilled meats, or stir it into pasta! (We’re still dying to try Chrissy Teigen’s spicy miso pasta!) And trust us, this is totally delicious on roasted carrots and broccoli – yum!

Expert Tips

• Only use the miso marinade during the last 5 minutes of cooking! If you go longer, you risk burning the sauce. The sugar in it will begin to caramelize (a good thing), but can quickly burn if left on too long.
• Use enough oil when roasting eggplant! Because the eggplant are roasted flesh side down, you want to make sure there’s enough oil in the pan so they don’t stick. We recommend using a fish spatula — versus a standard thickness spatula — because it’s much thinner and will more easily get under the eggplant without ripping the flesh.
• Want to know the difference between white, yellow, red, and black miso? Check out this helpful article! We have only made this recipe with white miso, but of course feel free to experiment with other varieties!
• If you’re using a larger eggplant, such as globe or Italian eggplant, be sure to check our note in the recipe card for adjusted cook time. Chinese and Japanese eggplant are much thinner and take less time to cook. The last thing you want to do is over (or under) cook the eggplant!