Miso Eggplant

“Nasu no miso itame,” or miso eggplant, is one of my favorite Japanese healthy comfort food recipes – it’s a simple, homey eggplant dish, pan-fried with sweet miso.

Miso is such a healthy ingredient – it’s low in calories, with plenty of protein, fiber, and amino acids, along with good-for-you minerals and vitamins. The fermentation is really great for your digestion! Overall, it’s good for heart health, reducing cholesterol and blood pressure, and helps the immune system.  

This version is a bit boosted with extra ginger, but you can leave it out if ginger’s not your thing. You can also use a sugar substitute when making this dish, if you’re being careful about your blood sugar. If you’re watching your salt intake, opt for a reduced-sodium miso.  

When most people think of Japanese food, sushi and tempura come to mind. But Japanese comfort food is actually more like the kind of food you’d find at an izakaya – a Japanese pub. Enjoy izakaya dishes with sake or beer (or tea). Dishes are served on small plates, like tapas.

Izakayas are popping up all over, which makes me super happy! It’s a great place to go solo; many have bar seating. Serving sizes are also smaller. It’s actually a great way to try a variety of Japanese dishes. It’s like a Japanese version of a tapas restaurant or dim sum place in terms of portions. If there’s an izakaya in your town, I recommend going! 

Miso eggplant is a fairly common dish at most izakayas, and definitely one of my favorite dishes. I hope you make “nasu no miso itame” as part of your regular Japanese food repertoire and impress your Japanese friends! 

For an alternate Japanese dish using eggplant, try my Vegan Unagi Bowl recipe 🙂

Ingredients

• 2 Japanese eggplants or 1/2 large Western eggplant  
• 1/2 tbsp red miso 
• 1/2 tbsp white miso 
• 1 tbsp sake (does not have to be the expensive stuff) 
• 1 tbsp mirin 
• 2 tsp grated ginger
• 1 tbsp sugar or granulated sugar substitute  
• 1 tsp soy sauce 
• 2 tbsp vegetable oil
• 1 tsp Ajinomoto MSG (optional) 
• Toasted sesame seeds (optional) 
• Dark green parts of green onions / scallions (optional)

Directions

Leave the skin on, and cut the eggplant into bite-sized pieces.

Put cut eggplant pieces into a bowl of water to remove bitterness and prevent browning. 

Prepare the miso sauce. Combine the two miso pastes, sake, mirin, sugar, and ginger. Set the sauce aside. 

In a frying pan over medium heat, add vegetable (or other neutral) oil. 

Pat eggplant dry with a paper towel. Add to frying pan, skin side down first. Turn pieces of eggplant to cook through. 

Add the prepared miso sauce to the pan and mix in with the eggplant. 

Turn off heat and transfer to a serving plate. 

Serve with steamed white rice and miso soup as a full meal, or enjoy by itself as a snack. Enjoy!