Nasu Dengaku - Miso Glazed Eggplant

Name: Nasu Dengaku - Miso Glazed Eggplant
Prep time: 5 min
Cook time: 10 min
Total time: 15 min
Cuisine: Japanese
Ingredients: 2 small eggplant; 2 tablespoons vegetable oil or other neutral oil; 1/4 cup miso paste (I use awase miso which is a mix of both red and white miso paste); 2 tablespoons mirin; 1 tablespoon granulated sugar; 1 tablespoon sake; sesame seeds

This is my traditional Japanese nasu dengaku recipe. You will fall in love with it! Tender broiled eggplant slices brushed with a sweet and savory miso sauce – it’s simply irresistible and ready in just 15 minutes.

I used to have a lot of trouble cooking eggplant. No matter what I did to it, I never seemed to get it right! It either had a mushy texture or was undercooked, with that awful spongy crunch. It wasn’t until I started perusing Japanese cookbooks that I learned amazing, no fail, ways to cook eggplant.

Today, I’m excited to share with you the delicious Japanese eggplant dish that finally broke the curse and turned me into an eggplant expert! This nasu dengaku recipe was my first major success in cooking with eggplant, and boy is it a good one!

What is Nasu Dengaku?
Ingredients for Nasu Dengaku
Optional Toppings
How to Make Miso Glazed Japanese Eggplant
Expert Tips on Cooking Eggplant
What To Serve With Nasu Dengaku
Frequently Asked Questions

What is Nasu Dengaku?

Nasu Dengaku is a classic Japanese side dish made with eggplant sliced in half, scored and brushed with a sweet and savory miso sauce.

The translation literally means eggplant grilled over a fire, which is exactly how it’s done in Japan.
My version is a little different – I cook the eggplant halves for a few minutes in a skillet and finish them in a baking tray under a broiler, until the miso sauce caramelizes and bubbles.

The flavor is savory, smoky and sweet – with a toasted, nutty essence skirting around the edges. It’s SO good! Very similar in flavor to my tofu dengaku recipe.

Ingredients for Nasu Dengaku

Eggplant: When I make this dish, I like to use eggplant that are on the small side. They tend to be less bitter than larger eggplant. Male eggplants also tend to have fewer seeds. A good way to check the sex of an eggplant is to look at the bottom. Slimmer eggplants with a round indentation mark at the bottom tend to be male. Rounder eggplants with an indentation that is elongated tend to be female.
Vegetable Oil: Any neutral flavored cooking oil will work well for this recipe.
Miso Paste: Miso paste is the key ingredient in this miso eggplant dish. Miso paste is a fermented food that is made from soybeans, salt, and koji (a type of fungus). It has a salty, savory flavor that is perfect for this dish. Additionally, miso paste is a good source of probiotics, which are beneficial for gut health. I like to use white miso paste (shiro miso) or awase miso, which is a mixture of red and white miso paste.
Sugar: A little sugar adds a touch of sweetness without going over into cloying territory. And it also helps the sauce caramelize to perfection under the broiler.
Mirin: This fermented rice wine rounds out the flavors in many Japanese dishes – and tempers some of the saltiness from the miso paste.
Sake: Sake is another Japanese rice wine that is made from fermented rice. It has a dry, slightly bitter flavor that helps to balance out the sweetness of the mirin in this dish. Sake also contains amino acids, which can help add depth of flavor to the miso sauce.
Sesame Seeds: Sprinkle a few white sesame seeds on your eggplant just before serving. You’ll love the toasted nuttiness!

Optional Toppings

Nasu dengaku is extremely flavorful on its own but can be topped with garnishes to add color and additional aromatics. Some of the most popular ones are:

Chopped chives
Shredded shiso leaves
Fresh herbs such as basil or cilantro

How to Make Miso Glazed Japanese Eggplant

Prepare the eggplant. Using a sharp knife, slice the eggplant in half, lengthwise. Then score the inside flesh of each half with a knife in a criss-cross pattern.
Cook the eggplant. Get a pan going over over high heat and add your oil to coat the bottom of the pan. Place your eggplant halves in the pan with the outer skin side facing down. Cook for a few minutes until the skin begins to brown.
Flip it! Next, flip the eggplant over and cook with a lid on the pan on for 3-4 minutes – until the eggplant is cooked through, and the inside flesh has browned.
Make the miso glaze. Meanwhile, whisk your miso paste, sake, mirin and sugar together in a small bowl until you achieve a smooth consistency.
Apply the sauce. Take your eggplant halves out of the pan – and place them on top of a foil lined baking sheet with the skin facing down. Brush each piece generously on top with the miso glaze.
Broil the nasu dengaku. Place in the oven and broil for 4 minutes. The glaze on top should be bubbling.
Serve. Top with sesame seeds and serve it immediately.

That’s it! So easy. The eggplant will be tender and cooked to perfection. And the flavor is out of this world!

Expert Tips on Cooking Eggplant

Halving and then scoring the inside of eggplant with a sharp knife will ensure that it cooks properly in the pan.

The trick to scoring the eggplant is to cut the inside flesh in a criss-cross pattern – without cutting the outer skin. Watch the video in the recipe card at the bottom of the page if you’re a visual learner (like me!).

Also, when pan frying, it’s a good idea to cook long enough that the flesh gets a decent amount of color on it – but not so long that it turns to mush. Remember, the final step of cooking is under the intense heat of the broiler in your oven.

What To Serve With Nasu Dengaku

Nasu dengaku is usually served as a side dish. But it can also be enjoyed as a main course with a side of steamed Japanese rice. While I prefer eating it hot, this eggplant dish can be enjoyed hot or cold.

I love pairing it with full flavored dishes like these:

Or how about making a simple side salad and topping it with this iconic Japanese restaurant style carrot and ginger dressing? You really can’t go wrong!

And check out these other delicious and easy eggplant recipes:

Frequently Asked Questions

How do I keep the eggplant from burning?

Great question! The miso glaze can burn rather quickly. This is exacerbated by the sugar in the glaze. Since you’re using the broiler function in your oven, that super high heat can take things from browned to burned in no time. When I make this recipe, I keep a watchful eye – both through the oven window, and by opening the oven door to have a closer look. When the glaze is bubbling and browned, it’s good to go.

I don’t have sake. What can I use instead?

You can use dry sherry or a dry white wine, but I would use half a tablespoon instead of a full tablespoon like the recipe calls for.

Did you like this nasu dengaku recipe? Are there changes you made that you would like to share? Share your tips and recommendations in the comments section below!

Serve nasu dengaku with a side of Japanese rice. Watch my video on How To Make Japanese Rice the stove top or rice cooker method!