Chef notes
A good introduction to miso is to create a sweet and salty sticky glaze, which, in my case, I use to slather over eggplants. Miso is quite salty on its own, so it's important to balance this out with sweet and often fresh, acidic tones. In my sticky miso glazed eggplants recipe, I combine miso with maple syrup for sweetness, and red wine vinegar for a bit of sharpness to cut through those punchy flavors. The result is a wonderfully flavored, soft and almost meaty eggplant with such a flavorsome glaze, the dish may just be promoted from a side dish to a main.
Technique tip: Cooking the glaze for a few minutes will help to create a lovely, glossy and slightly sweet mixture so don't skip this step!
Swap option: This glaze would also go really well with a fillet of salmon or tuna.
Ingredients
- 2 teaspoons coconut oil
- 2 medium eggplants
- 2 tablespoons white miso paste
- 2 tablespoons maple syrup
- 3 tablespoons red wine vinegar
- 1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon sesame oil
- 1 teaspoon sesame seeds, to garnish
- 1 scallion, to garnish
Preparation
1.Preheat your oven to 350 F (fan assisted). Place 2 teaspoons of coconut oil on a baking tray and place this in the oven for 10 minutes while your oven heats up.
2.Next, prepare your eggplants. Slice your eggplants lengthways and then score the flesh with a diagonal crisscross pattern, but don't slice all the way through.
3.After 10 minutes, take out the tray with the hot oil from the oven, and brush the flesh of the eggplants with the hot coconut oil. Then place the eggplants flesh-side down on the tray and bake for 15 minutes.
4.While the eggplants are baking, make the sticky miso glaze: In a saucepan, mix together the miso paste, maple syrup, red wine vinegar, pepper and garlic powder to form a runny paste. Heat this on a medium-low heat until bubbling and slightly thickened, for about 4 to 5 minutes, then remove from heat.
5.After 15 minutes, remove the eggplants from the oven, flip them over and spread a heaping tablespoon of the glaze on each eggplant half (leaving some glaze still in the pan).
6.Place eggplants back in the oven for 15 minutes, flesh-side up this time.
7.There should be a small bit of remaining glaze in the pan. To this, add the sesame oil and mix to combine.
8.Once eggplants are cooked, brush over the sesame oil mixture over each eggplant half.
9.To garnish, heat the sesame seeds on a dry pan and toast on a medium-low heat for about 5 minutes, until toasted and golden. Sprinkle over the eggplants and garnish with finely chopped scallions.
