Miso with Eggplant by dianatangy

Source: http://ooh-look.blogspot.com/2010/10/partly-vego-miso-eggplant.html



Ingredients, including eggplant, frozen edamame, dashi
powder, mirin and white miso. And the boys' cookbook.



The edamame are boiled from frozen; the miso sauce is a rich,
salty mixture of miso, sugar and mirin.



Serve the eggplant in a bowl with the broth poured around.
Sprinkle with bonito flakes (or fried shallots, as shown here).

Ingredients

1 heaped tablespoon white miso paste 1 tablespoon caster sugar 75ml mirin 100ml boiling water 7g dashi powder 1 tsp sesame oil 1 cup fresh or frozen edamame, removed from pods 1 large or 2 small-medium eggplant (aubergine) 200ml vegetable oil or rice bran oil bonito flakes or fried shallots, to garnish

Instructions

1. for the miso sauce: mix the miso and sugar in a small saucepan. add the mirin a little at a time. stir over low heart for 10 minutes or until the mixture thickens and forms a paste. remove from the heat and set aside.
2. for the dashi broth: transfer 1 tablespoon of the miso mixture to a bowl. mix the boiling water with the dashi powder then add to the bowl together with the sesame oil. mix and set aside.
3. for the edamame: bring a saucepan of water to the boil. add a pinch of salt and the edamame beans and boil for 2 minutes, then drain. season with salt flakes and set aside.
4. for the eggplant: cut the eggplants into 2cm (1 inch) slices, then score in a crisscross pattern on the diagonal about 1cm into the eggplant. heat the oil in a large, heavy-based saucepan to 180C, then lower the eggplant carefully into the pan and cook for 5 minutes. reduce heat to low-medium and turn the eggplants over. cook for a further 5 minutes or until tender. drain really well on paper towels.
5. to serve: spread the cooked eggplant slices with miso sauce, then place in a bowl. scatter with the edamame, pour a little of the dashi broth around it, sprinkle with bonito flakes or fried shallot, and serve.

Servings: 2