Eggplant with Miso Sauce

Miso is a type of paste, typically made of soy and salt that is used in many traditional Japanese dishes. Miso sauce is one of the most basic and useful sauces in Japanese cuisine. The miso sauce in this recipe can be made with any color miso paste, but shiromiso has a milder flavor than akamiso, and will definitely go well with eggplants.

Eggplant with <i>Miso</i> Sauce Ingredients

Ingredients (serves 2):

6 oz. eggplants, Japanese preferred
Bowl of water for soaking the eggplants
1 Tbsp. vegetable oil
3 Tbsp. water
1 Tbsp. sake (rice wine)
1/2 tsp. sugar
1/2 tsp. soy sauce

For Miso Sauce:

4 oz. shiromiso (white miso paste)
3 Tbsp. sake (rice wine)
2 Tbsp. sugar
1 egg yolk

Peel eggplants lengthwise forming stripes, leaving on half the skin, and cut into bite sized pieces (if using American eggplants, remove all of the skin). Let soak in a bowl of water to reduce bitterness for about 3 minutes.

In a small sauce pan, place all ingredients for miso sauce. Cook over low heat while mixing with a wooden spoon. When the mixture is thick as mayonnaise, turn off the heat and set aside.

Drain eggplants and pat dry with a paper towel.

Heat oil in a frying pan over medium heat, sauté eggplants on both cut sides until light brown.

Add all other seasonings in the pan (except miso sauce), and cook for 1 minute.

Place eggplants on a plate and drizzle miso sauce.