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Miso Glazed Eggplants - Umami and Addicting

These miso eggplants are seared, glazed, and finally baked to perfection. They're literally bursting with umami, juicy, savory, tenderer than a baby's cheek, and just melt in your mouth. They're definitely a rice-killer - meaning so much rice is gonna be devoured up with this flavorful and addicting dish. But they're also lovely just on their own.

Eggplant is one of my absolute favorite vegetables growing up, even during my fussy eating teenager years I never ever turned my back on eggplants. And rightfully so. They have such an amazing texture plus a unique aroma. Scoring the eggplant really helps release the yummy potential of them, the texture will get cooked tender and soft easier and the scored patterns will soak up the sauce and glaze all the way from top to the skin.

And if being downright delicious is not enough, eggplant is also a very humble and easy ingredient to use, I can't even imagine how eggplants can ever go wrong. When I was little, sometimes my mom was pressed for time and she'd just break some eggplants apart by hand, steam them without even any seasonings, then we'd eat them with a dipping sauce and they were honestly so good and comforting - that's how easy and friendly eggplants can be.

One thing we gotta remember about eggplant is that they're quite literally like a sponge - they'll soak up oil so quickly and it's like they'd never stop. So knowing this, you need to try to fight the urge to keep adding more oil just because you might see the pan is dry, otherwise the eggplant would turn out overly oily.

Follow the steps in the video below and if you have any add additional questions you can find me on Instagram and Tiktok.

INGREDIENTS:

1 big eggplant
2 scallions, chopped
2-3 dry red chili peppers, chopped
Extra white sesame for garnish
Oil for cooking

For the glaze -
1 tablespoon white miso paste
2 teaspoon sesame oil
1 1/2 teaspoon soy sauce/tamari
1 teaspoon coconut amino
1 teaspoon rice vinegar
1 teaspoon dark brown sugar
1 teaspoon white sesame seeds
1/4 teaspoon ginger powder

TO MAKE:

- Preheat the oven to 405°F;
- Half the eggplant and score the flesh sides with a criss-cross pattern, glide the knife carefully do not cut through the skin;

- In a large nonstick pan, heat a generous drizzle of canola oil over medium-high heat, sear the eggplant halves flesh side down first, for about 3-4 minutes until they're slightly golden brown;
- Then flip them over and sear the skin side for another 3 - 4 minutes and you should see them wrinkle up and soften a bit, then turn them over once again and sear the flesh side for another 2 minutes also until all golden brown;
- Meanwhile, mix all the glaze ingredients till very smooth;
- Spread the glaze onto the flesh sides of the eggplants, if your pan is not oven safe, transfer the eggplant onto a baking pan lined with parchment paper, and roast for 15 - 20 minutes;
- Check to see the doneness of your eggplants halfway through as cooking time would vary depending on their sizes, the bigger ones will take longer to cook through and vice versa;
- Garnish with the scallions, dried chili pepper, and extra white sesame seeds;
- Serve hot, enjoy!

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