Another of my favourite Japanese dishes that lends itself wonderfully to the 5-2 fasting diet. Nasu Dengaku. An incredibly delicious combination of soft silky baked eggplant and sweet miso. Umami at its very best.
Traditionally prepared over a charcoal grill using smaller Japanese finger eggplant, I have taken the liberty to adapt the recipe to use much larger eggplant which are more regularly available in Australian supermarkets. To ensure they are cooked to unctuous perfection I like to roast scored eggplant halves in the oven rather than char them on the grill. To complete the meal, serve with a 35 calorie bowl of miso soup (recipe here)
Roasted Eggplant With A Sweet Miso Glaze
Serves 2 (278 calories per serve)
2 medium eggplants (180 calories)
1 tablespoon sesame oil (120 calories)
3 tablespoons mirin (sweet rice wine) (120 calories)
2 tablespoons shiro (white) miso (80 calories)
1 tablespoon toasted sesame seeds (52 calories)
1 long green spring onion, finely sliced (4 calories)
PREHEAT oven to 180C.
SLICE each eggplant in half.
LIGHTLY score the surface of the eggplant with the point of a sharp knife in a diamond pattern and then brush the surface very lightly with sesame oil.
PLACE cut side down on a paper lined baking dish. Cover with foil and bake for 30 minutes until eggplant is very soft.
MEANWHILE stir together the mirin and miso paste in a small saucepan over very low heat until combined, about 3 minutes.
REMOVE the eggplant from the oven, turn over and brush the scored roasted flesh with miso glaze. Return to the oven and continue roasting until the glaze is golden and begins to caramelise, about 5 more minutes.
SCATTER over toasted sesame seeds and sliced spring onion. Serve with a bowl of miso soup.
The Paddington Foodie 
Oh my goodness! I have all the ingredients to try this! And the photo looks gorgeous! I love eggplant! And miso! Thanks for sharing your recipe! 🙂
My pleasure. This is such a lovely way to cook eggplant.. And so easy.
Yay! Finally an eggplant recipe that I actually want to try! Thank you for sharing!
It is delicious. To achieve the right texture its important to roast the eggplant until the flesh becomes soft and silky, For years I would order this in Japanese restaurants not realising how simple it is to replicate at home.
Oh i love baked eggplant!! From what i get reading your recipe, it shouldn’t be too hard to prepare. Thanks for sharing. 🙂
As the Japanese say this dish has umami (the sixth taste). And it really is simple to prepare. Hope you enjoy in Japanese izakayas it’s served with cold beer.
I’ve got quite a few eggplants and I will definitely give this a try. Looks delish!
It is. A great recipe to tempt even the fussiest non eggplant eaters.
YUM! my mouth is watering reading this recipe. Thank youo – i shall try it soon when i start my 5:2 days. i wonder if there is calorie room to serve it with some cauliflower wasabi mash? 🙂
I don’t see why not. There is a cauliflower and cannellini bean mash that I serve with seared blue eye cod. It comes in at 88 calories a serve (which is about 2/3 – 3/4 cup depending on the size of the cauliflower used.