Miso-Glazed Eggplant with a Bowl of Rice

This recipe, miso-glazed eggplant with a bowl of rice, from the New York Times appeals to me in many ways. I can’t walk away from it without cooking the dish and write about it. I want my blog to reflect primarily a treasure trove of recipes which guide and inspire my cooking. A personal collection of sorts and some timeless dishes from cuisines around the world. Time will tell whether I succeed on that count.

The appealing features are: 1) the umami-filled flavor profile, 2) less than 5 ingredients and 3) easy everyday meal that comes together in short order. Lastly, you don’t really need to follow a recipe as Sam Sifton explains it. You may just want your creative juice to take you wherever you desire! I can’t overstate the versatility of the miso glaze. It goes great on salmon as well as sweet potatoes.

You know how to make rice. For the rest of this dish, grab some small eggplants — the Japanese variety is a good option — and cut them on the bias into little steaks. Drizzle them with neutral oil and roast in a 400-degree oven for 20 minutes or so, turning them once or twice, until they’re soft. Then crank the oven to broil, and paint them with white miso that’s been cut with splashes of sesame oil and rice wine, a smaller splash of soy and a few grinds of black pepper. Let that get going until the skin begins to pop, then serve those little vegetarian flavor steaks over rice, with a spray of sesame seeds over the top.

Sam Sifton, The New York Times