Miso (Horny) Baked Eggplant

Miso Eggplant

Miso hungry, me love food long time, and lucky for me there's a very happy, tasty ending guaranteed with this one. Yep, there's something about a big purple knob that really gets a girl going, particularly when it's my miso baked eggplant, a super tasty and stupid easy veggie side that will add a whole whack of asian inspired flavour to your meal.

Get this stuff

1 large eggplant (or aubergine if that's how you roll)

2 heaped Tbl miso paste

2 t tahini

1 Tbl rice malt syrup (you can sub in honey or maple syrup but be aware that they have a much stronger flavour so it may alter the overall taste of the dish)

1 crushed garlic clove or 1 tsp crushed garlic from a jar

1 tsp sesame oil

Optional:

1 tsp crushed ginger

A few dollops of wasabi

Sesame seeds for sprinkling

Do this with it

Preheat the oven to 180 degreesSlice the large eggplant in half long ways and score about 1 cm deep in adiagonal criss cross pattern.

Combine all the other ingredients together to create a thick, sticky paste then layer it on generously to both eggplant halves pushing it down into the cuts a little bit so the flavours will seep in as it cooks. The wasabi is a little optional flavour kicker and how much you use really depends on how hardy your sinuses are, I like to give mine a bit of a shake up and add a few good dollops but just make sure you mix it through well or you risk hitting a lump and blowing your nostrils through the back of your head. Ginger is also optional, I love the flavour of it, some don't so if you're in the latter camp just leave it out, simple.

Bake for about 30-40 minutes until the miso topping is browned and starting to crisp up and the eggplant underneath is soft and creamy. If you want to make it extra flash you can add a liberal sprinkling of sesame seeds in the last 5 minutes or so of cooking so they go a light golden brown. Add them too soon and they're likely to burn like a motherfucker which is less flash.

I often like to carry the asian theme through serve this with baked salmon or rare tuna and greens tossed in a wok tossed with sesame oil, tamari, ginger and a few good tablespoons of sesame seeds.

miso eggplant and tuna.jpg