I love aubergines – especially when they are combined with Asian flavours. I’ve seen a lot of marinated miso dishes about, many with aubergine as the star. So, I am in no way claiming this is a novel idea, but I wanted to share the way I cook it, served with pickled spiced cucumber.
One of the delights of being a vegetarian is not always needing a centre piece of a dish (i.e. the meat) and letting all the individual elements of a plate sing. Having said that, aubergine is one of those vegetables that lends itself well to be the centre of a dish. On its own it doesn’t have a huge amount of flavour but it’s texture and ability to absorb other flavours make it perfect for saucy dishes such as curry, ratatouille, moussaka and marinades. Middle Eastern cuisine also know how to treat an aubergine: I tend to use it in wraps or pittas, simply fried with lots of salt, and lest not forget the ‘happiness in a dip’ that is Babaganoush!
Marinating the aubergine in miso, soy sauce, honey, vinegar and sesame brings out a subtle sweetness in the aubergine alongside a very punchy umami hit. To cut through the savouriness I enjoy serving it with cucumber, to introduce a fresh and vibrant note to lighten and balance the dish.
By pickling and adding heat to the cucumber you also add a little bit of excitement for your taste buds. You can pickle the cucumber in a traditional pickling mix – vinegar, water, sugar and salt. However, I enjoy the marrying flavours of the lime and cucumber, which still allows the flavour of the cucumber to come through. I didn’t want a pickle/gherkin tang; I want the cucumber to remain fresh and zingy – with a punch of spice and crisp, bitter onion.
Ingredients
Serves 2
1 Aubergine
For the glaze:
2 tbsp Soy sauce
½ tbsp Rice wine vinegar
1 tbsp White miso paste
1 tsp Honey (or vegan alternative)
1 tsp Sesame oil
½ Cucumber
1 spring onion
1 lime
1 Red chilli
Sesame seeds (optional)
Brown/White rice
Method
Cut cucumber, chilli and spring onion and place in a deep bowl. Squeeze lime juice over greens and chilli. Doesn’t matter if cucumber isn’t fully immersed in the juice, just give it a shake and ensure all pieces of cucumber are coated with juice. Cover and leave for 15-20 mins. You can leave for longer and place in the fridge overnight to intensify the flavour but no need to.
Preheat oven to 200C.
Whisk miso and soy sauce in a jug until miso has dissolved or broken into bits. Add sesame oil, vinegar and honey – continue to whisk until a loose paste has formed.
Cut aubergine in half, chop off green end. Score the aubergines white inside diagonally from the top to bottom and do the same on the other side so you get a hash pattern. You want scores to be rather deep so glaze can soak through aubergine.
Place on lined baking tray and pour miso mixture over both halves. Put in oven. After 15-20mins check on aubergine. Because of the honey and miso aubergine is prone to burning so just ensure colour is not too dark. If going darker than desired cover tray with foil. Continue to cook for another 10 mins.
While aubergine is cooking for the last 10 minutes, prepare the rice. Serve all together, sprinkled with sesame seeds and with extra soy sauce or sriracha for the rice.
My tip for perfect rice – whatever measure of rice you use double the quantity in hot water. For example 1 cup of rice, 2 cups of hot water. 1 ½ cups of rice, 3 cups of hot water. Always cover with a lid and leave until you can hear slight crackling – this means the all the water has evaporated and your rice has begun to steam slightly.
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