A very easy, tasty and healthy recipe to cook eggplants. It is strongly inspired by the Japanese recipe “Nasu Dengaku” (see notes below).
You can serve this side dish with rice, diced tofu or Japanese chicken for example.
Japanese style eggplant (Nasu Dengaku)
Ingredients
- 1 large eggplant
- 1.5 tbsp soy sauce
- 2 tbsp rice miso
- 2 tbsp mirin or rice vinegar (might be easier to find, in organic shops for instance)
- 1 tbsp honey
- sesame seeds
Instructions
- Rinse the eggplant. Cut in half. Slit the skin very slightly with the tip of a knife.
- Cut the eggplant into medium-sized strips. Cut the strips into pieces of about 3/4 cm.
- Steam the eggplant pieces for 12 to 15 minutes. Keep an eye on the cooking process.
- Meanwhile, prepare the marinade. Mix the soy sauce, miso, mirin (or rice vinegar) and honey and whisk to combine.
- Once the eggplant pieces are cooked, place them in a dish. Pour the marinade over them and mix well to coat the pieces with the sauce. Leave to rest for about 30 minutes.
- Heat a drizzle of sesame (or other) oil in a pan and fry the marinated eggplant pieces for 3 minutes until hot.
- Sprinkle with sesame seeds and serve immediately.
Notes
Nasu Dengaku” is traditionally prepared by first frying the halved eggplant in a pan with a lid on, with the flesh lightly cut into strips (cooking both sides for 5 to 7 minutes). Then place the eggplant halves in a dish, flesh side up, and brush with the marinade, and leave to cook for about 4 minutes.
Here I propose a lighter version by steaming the eggplant instead of frying them at the beginning.