A quick and easy-to-make oven-roasted Japanese Miso Glazed Eggplant (nasu dengaku) brushed with sweet and savory miso glaze, packed with umami flavors from the black garlic!
Table of Contents
What is Nasu Dengaku?
Nasu dengaku is a Japanese eggplant dish made with Asian eggplant brushed with a sweet and savory glaze made with miso, mirin, and sugar.
My version of nasu dengaku, doesn't use sugar but uses black garlic as a sweetener instead, the black garlic also adds umami flavor as well so it's a win-win!
Asian eggplant, when made right can be creamy, slightly sweet, and absolutely delicious! Especially when it has a chance to be roasted and caramelized in the oven and smeared with an umami-packed black garlic miso glaze!
It is also an incredibly easy vegetable to cook with too! Don't believe me? Give this Miso Eggplant (Nasu Dengaku) recipe a try and see!
Ingredients for Japanese Miso Eggplant
For this glazed Black Garlic Miso Eggplant (nasu dengaku) recipe, you should be able to find the eggplant and miso at your local grocery stores. For the rest of the harder-to-find ingredients (Mirin, cooking sake, and black garlic) it would also be available at an Asian grocery store or specialty grocery store.
- Eggplant - For this recipe, I highly recommend using Chinese Eggplant because it is creamier and has a sweeter flavor. I find that Italian Eggplants have a bitterness to them (which you can remove by drawing out the moisture by sprinkling salt on it and washing it off) but the end result is still is not as sweet as the Chinese/Indian Eggplants.
- Miso - I like using red miso (Aka miso) recipe because I enjoy the stronger flavors of miso. You can switch up your miso to a lighter one (white or yellow) if you prefer a milder glaze.
- Black Garlic - Black garlic is a bit trickier to find. It can be found at specialty grocery stores but if you cannot find it in stores, you can find it online on Amazon as well.
- Cooking Sake - Cooking sake is slightly saltier and has less alcohol content than regular drinking sake. If you can't find this, you can substitute it with regular sake, dry sherry or omit it.
- Mirin - Mirin is similar to sake but is sweeter and has a lower alcohol content. If you cannot find mirin, you can mix 1 teaspoon of sugar with 2 tablespoons of dry sherry, sake or water and use that instead.
- Furikake - Sprinkle on some homemade furikake seasoning for some extra umami and flavor
How to Make Japanese Miso Glazed Eggplant
To maximize the surface area on the eggplant, so that we can get the extra glaze on it I like to make slices on the eggplant lengthwise. I don't slice it all the way and keep the stem intact so that it keeps the eggplant together. This makes it easier to flip when it is browning in the oven.
It is a completely optional step, so if you don't feel like making multiple slits like the photos below, you can cut the eggplant lengthwise all the way through the step into 2 pieces as well.
Oven Roasting the Eggplant
To cook the eggplant all the way through quickly, I oven-roast the eggplant under the broil setting.
Since the oven gets to about 500f, I recommend lining your baking sheets with tin foil and not parchment, since parchment may catch on fire and burn.
Once the eggplant gets soft, I brush on the glaze and broil it for 2 minutes t cook it through.
Tips
- If you have extra glaze - don't throw it out! Use it to glaze your grilled meats while you are BBQing them!
What to Serve with Nasu Dengaku
You can have this miso eggplant as a vegetable side dish, or a main dish. If you are having it as a main dish, here are a few examples of what you can enjoy it with!
- Noodle dishes - this pairs well with any type of noodle dish. Although the more flavorful and saucy the noodles, the more you will miss out on the black garlic miso glaze. Try it with our Garlic Noodles recipe which also has a bit of black garlic in it!
- Rice dishes - I personally like this with plain white rice. If I am feeling fancy, I'll make it a simple Egg Fried Rice, which is very simple so it doesn't cover up the flavors of this dish!
- Tofu - Sometimes I like to buy some firm tofu, and pan-fry it until it has browned and is slightly crispy! Then I'll drizzle a bit of sweet soy and green onions over it and have this with the Miso eggplant!
FAQs
It is made with miso, mirin, and sugar, but for this recipe I use black garlic in place of the sugar.
If you are not accustomed to miso, you should try to use white or yellow miso because has a milder and sweeter flavor. I like to use red miso for this recipe because I like saltier and stronger flavors.
For this recipe, Asian eggplants work best because it is sweeter and creamier. If you want to substitute it with regular eggplant, you need to salt it for 30 minutes to draw out the bitterness and rinse out the bitter juice before using it.
More Asian Side Dishes You May Like
- Honey Miso Garlic Roasted Potatoes
- Sweet Ginger Soy Fried Cabbage
- Honey Glazed Pan Fried Brussels Sprouts
- Black Garlic Shirataki Noodles with King Oyster Mushrooms
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Recipe Card
Black Garlic Glazed Miso Eggplant (Nasu Dengaku)
Recipe Notes
- Make sure you use foil to line the pan and not parchment paper. On the broil setting, parchment can catch on fire or burn.Â
- If you have extra glaze - save it and try using it on grilled meats or mix it into some stir-fried noodles!
- For this recipe, I highly recommend using Chinese Eggplant or Indian Eggplant because it has a sweeter flavor to it. I find that Italian Eggplants have a bitterness to them (which you can remove by drawing out the moisture by sprinkling salt on it and washing it off) but the end result is still not as sweet as the Asian eggplants.
- I like using red miso for this recipe because I enjoy the stronger flavors of miso but you can definitely use the lighter misos (white or yellow) if you prefer a milder glaze.
- If you can't find cooking sake, you can substitute it with regular sake, dry sherry or omit it.
- If you cannot find mirin, you can mix 1 teaspoon of sugar with 2 tablespoons of dry sherry, sake or water and use that instead.
Ingredients
- 6 Chinese eggplants
- oil (for brushing onto the eggplant)
Black Garlic Miso Glaze
- 7 tablespoons water
- 2 tablespoons black garlic
- 1 tablespoon miso (preferably red miso)
- 2 tablespoons cooking sake (can substitute with regular sake, or dry sherry)
- 1 tablespoon mirin
Toppings & Garnishes
- green onions (finely chopped)
- toasted sesame seeds
Instructions
Making the Black Garlic Miso
- In a food processor put in the black garlic, water, mirin, sake and miso, and blitz it until it is smooth. (If you prefer a thinner glaze, add 1 more tablespoon of water)
- Set the glaze aside for later.
Cutting the Eggplant
- Make lengthwise cuts running down the eggplant, ½ inch apart. I found it easiest to use a paring knife or a small knife to make these cuts. Alternatively, If you don't want to make multiple slits, you can just cut the eggplants in half, lengthwise.
- Lightly oil the skin and between the slits and run your fingers through it so the oil is spread to a thin layer all over the eggplant.
Oven Roasting the Miso Eggplant
- Line your cookie sheet with foil and fan out the eggplant. Some may not like to fan out easily, don’t worry when it starts to soften up it will be easier to fan out.
- Set your oven to broil and put the eggplant in the oven.. (Make sure you don't leave the stove and watch it like a hawk because it can burn very quickly.)
- Flip the eggplant every 2 minutes, 2-3 times. (Approximately 4-6 minutes a side)
- When the eggplant looks brown and roasted, brush on the glaze and put it back in the broiler for 2 minutes.
- Top it with some sesame seeds and green onions and enjoy!
Nutrition
*Nutritional information is calculated using online tools and is an estimate*
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josie says
Thanks for this eggplant recipe. Since I love eggplants, I like to try different ways of cooking it.
Very tasty. Thank you