I have say that it is a fantastic vegan recipe if you grill the eggplant with just miso and NO cheese! Or it can be a fantastic vegetarian recipe if you can enjoy these grilled eggplant with cheese.
Believe it or not... These vegetarian meat-less miso eggplants are so delicious that my meat-loving husband and son actually said that they want more!!!
Best of all, grilling these miso eggplants are really really really easy!!! I will show you how...
Oven Grilled Miso Eggplant - With or Without Cheese!
Both are very very very YUMMY!!!
Always our fav!!! HIGHLY HIGHLY HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!!!
Although it is very easy to oven-grill these miso eggplants, you will have to cook the eggplants first until they are thoroughly cooked before grilling it with miso. See the concept?
Watch my video to see how I grilled these yummy eggplants.
You can grill the eggplants with miso only.
And this vegan-friendly dish is amazingly tasty and fulfilling!
Or you can grill the eggplants with miso and cheese.
And this cheesy vegetarian-friendly dish is also very yummy.
With or without cheese...
Vegan or vegetarian...
I'm loving both versions!!!
I tell myself that I must teach my vegetarian aunties to grill these!!!
My husband likes the eggplant with or without the cheese too
but my son said that he loves the cheesy ones more!!!
I hope that you will like these miso eggplants as much as we do.
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Here's the recipe that is adapted from here and hereServe 4
1/4 to 1/2 cup miso paste*
60ml (1/4 cup) mirin**
30ml (2 tbsp) cooking sake**
20g (2 tbsp) caster sugar
4 small (about 130g each) or 2 medium (about 250g) eggplants (also known as aubergines and brinjals), washed and dried thoroughly
4 tbsp neutral tasting vegetable oil, plus more if required
200g grated mozzarella or tasty cheese, optional
2 tbsp roasted sesame seeds to sprinkle
* You can use ANY miso to grill these eggplants. You can use either the white or the red, the salt-reduced or even a mixture of any miso. However, different brands and types of miso has different saltiness and intensity of flavours, so please adjust the added amount accordingly. Here, I'm using 1/4 cup red miso (not salt-reduced) to grill my eggplants.
** The alcohol content in the mirin and cooking sake will be fully vaporized after the eggplants are nicely grilled and it should be children-friendly. For some reasons, if you want to replace these with other ingredients, you can replace these ingredients with water but I have to tell you that your grilled miso eggplants won't be as nice as ours. Sorry!
Combine miso, mirin, sake and sugar. Set aside.
Place an oven rack at the second highest position and preheat oven to 200°C / 400°F fan forced with top grill function.
Line baking trays with baking paper.
Slice eggplants lengthwise into halves (for small eggplants) or 2-cm thick slices (for medium eggplants) without removing their skins. Use a knife to score at just one side (without the skins) into small squares without cutting through the eggplant slices.
Heat 2 tbsp oil in a large frying pan with medium high heat until smoking hot, then reduce heat to medium. Immediately arrange 4 eggplant slices in the pan with their scored-side down. Cook for about 5-10 mins or until the seared side is golden brown. Flip the eggplant over, cover the frying pan with a lid and cook for 5-10 mins or until the eggplants are cooked through. Repeat this cooking step with the remaining eggplant slices.
Transfer eggplants with their scored-side facing up in the prepared tray. Brush a layer of miso mixture generously on the scored-side of the eggplants. Grill eggplants in the oven, one tray at a time at the second highest position for about 5 mins, or until the miso layer is bubbling.
To grill the eggplants with maximal flavours, I usually brush and grill my eggplant slice twice. After grilling for 5 mins, brush a second layer of miso mixture generously on the scored-side of the eggplants. Grill eggplants in the oven, one tray at a time at the second highest position for another 5 mins, or until the miso layer is bubbling and preferably golden brown.
To grill the miso eggplant with cheese: Sprinkle about 25g cheese on the cut side of each grilled miso eggplant slice or until the surface is well-coated with cheese. Grill eggplants in the oven, one tray at a time at the second highest position for another 5 mins, or until the cheese layer is completely melted and golden brown.
Sprinkle sesame seeds and serve while the eggplants are freshly grilled.
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