Miso Eggplant Recipe

Blue and white rectangle-shaped plate with miso eggplant and a few fresh mint leaves, on a red silk cloth with chopsticks.

5 from 10 votes

Miso Eggplant is loaded with umami, sweet and savory flavors. Perfect over rice, it's hearty enough for a vegan main course, and works as a fantastic side dish, too. This is the most delicious way to eat eggplant!

*If you'd like to serve this as a main course (over rice), double the recipe.

Prep Time5

Cook Time10

Marinating30

Total Time45

Course: Side Dish

Cuisine: Asian

Keyword: unique vegan sides, best eggplant recipes

Servings:

Calories: 189kcal

Author: Valentina K. Wein

Equipment

microplane zester

Ingredients

¼ cup light or white miso paste (Shiro-Miso)* (see notes)
3 tablespoons mirin (sweet Japanese rice wine)
1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon low-sodium soy sauce or Tamari* (see notes)
2 teaspoons chili paste
1½ teaspoons minced garlic
1½ teaspoons fresh ginger pulp
2 teaspoons granulated sugar
1½ pounds eggplant, washed and dried
2 tablespoons neutral oil for the pan (vegetable or grapeseed)
⅓ cup dry sherry
small handful of fresh mint leaves

Instructions

Prep the sauce/marinade. In a large mixing bowl (that will eventually hold all of the eggplant), whisk the miso paste with the mirin, soy sauce, chili paste, garlic, ginger and sugar. Set aside.
Prep and marinate eggplant. Cut the eggplant into sticks that are approximately 3-inches long and ½-inch wide. Add them to the miso mixture as you go. Mix gently to ensure all of it has been evenly coated. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let it marinate for about 30 minutes at room temperature.
Cook. Coat the bottom of a large skillet (about 14-inch) with the oil and place it over medium-high heat. Once it's very hot, add the eggplant, including any excess marinade. It should sizzle immediately -- if it doesn't, wait until the pan is hot enough! Mixing occasionally, sauté until the eggplant is golden and soft, about 8 minutes. Turn the heat to medium-low about halfway through.
Pour in the sherry to deglaze the pan. Then turn the heat up again, and use a flat-edged metal spatula to scrape all of the stuck bits of the marinade from the bottom of the pan into the eggplant. Cook just until most of the liquid is absorbed, about 30 seconds or so.
Serve. Add a few mint small leaves to the eggplant and serve over rice (if desired).

Notes

Nutritional information is only an estimate.

* If you're gluten-free, or cooking for someone who is, be sure to use either Tamari or a gluten-free soy sauce, and gluten-free miso paste (not all of them are).

Nutrition