Miso Glazed Eggplant -Nasu Dengaku

This recipe is a two-fer. First,  I’m going to show you how to make miso glazed eggplant and then I’m going to blow your mind by turning it in to an awesome dip! Are you ready?!

This dish is called “nasu dengaku” in Japanese. It makes a great appetizer or side dish. It can also be the star of the show if you serve it with some rice.

I used Japanese eggplants, but if you can’t find them; just use any old eggplant. Long, skinny ones are better. That’s what she said. 

When you read the recipe, it will ask you to score the eggplant. Here is a video we filmed to show you the technique.

After you follow the steps and take it out of the oven, it should looks something like this…

Oh man, they look good!

This is where you get to choose your own adventure. You can…

A) Stop right here and enjoy the beautifully glazed vegetable warm out of the oven.

or

B) Make a kick-ass eggplant dip!

I’m totally claiming this Japanese eggplant dip as an original Blenderist recipe. It came to me when I was munching on some lotus root chips. I thought it would be awesome to create a Japanese baba ganoush.

The method is simple. Just let the miso glazed eggplant cool and then scoop all the flesh in to a blender. Mix on medium speed until it’s the texture of baba ganoush.

It will look like this…

It is really great with the lotus root chips, recipe available here; but regular potato chips or rice crackers are cool too. It would also make a great sandwich spread. I would also put it in a dragon bowl. So many options!

Miso Glazed Eggplant -Nasu Dengaku

---

• Prep Time: 5 mins
• Cook Time: 20 mins
• Total Time: 25 mins
• Yield: 4 servings

Print Recipe

Pin Recipe

Ingredients

• 2 medium Japanese eggplants
• 2 tbsp sesame oil
• 4 tbsp white miso
• 3 tbsp mirin + 1 tbsp more for sauce
• 1 tbsp sake
• 2 tbsp sugar

---

Instructions

1. Set your oven rack to the middle and set the oven to Broil.
2. Slice the eggplants in half and then score the flesh.
3. Rub sesame oil all over the eggplants (especially the flesh) and put them on a broiler sheet with the skin facing up.
4. Broil eggplants until skin starts to turn brown. (2-3 minutes depending on the heat of your broiler)
5. Remove from oven and turn over the eggplant.
6. Put the eggplant back under the broiler, face up for 5-10 minutes.
7. When it’s ready, the flesh will be tender and you should be able to put a knife through it easily.
8. Set aside the eggplant while you prepare the glaze.
9. Mix the miso, mirin, sake and sugar in a small sauce pan.
10. Warm this mixture over medium heat until the sugar is dissolved.
11. Be careful not to let it boil.
12. Once the sugar has dissolved, remove the glaze from the heat and add another tbsp of mirin to thin it out.
13. Brush the glaze evenly over the eggplant flesh.
14. Put the glazed eggplant back under the broiler until it starts to bubble and caramelize. (1-4 minutes)
15. During this step, you will want to watch it closely or else it could burn.
16. Remove from the oven and let rest for 3-5 minutes before serving.
17. If you want to make this in to a dip, let it cool.
18. Scoop the cooled flesh in to a blender and mix on medium speed until it reaches the texture of baba ganoush or a chunky hummus.