Nasu dengaku is a very classic Japanese dish. It's richly satisfying and very simple.

Ingredients

• 1 eggplant
• 1 tbsp miso
• 1 tbsp sake
• 1 tbsp mirin
• 2 tsp sugar
• 1 tsp grated ginger
• cooking oil

Method

• Cut the eggplant in half.
• Cut a groove around the edge of each half.
• Cut a crosshatch pattern on each half. Go as deep as you can without cutting through the bottom. We don't want the juice to escape out the bottom.
• Brush the cut side of the eggplant with a generous amount of oil.
• Oil a grill and grill the skin side of the eggplant on medium high heat until you get grill marks. Grilling the skin side makes the skin less chewy and helps the eggplant cook more evenly. Should take about 5 minutes.

• If the eggplant has absorbed the oil you brushed on (there is a high probability since eggplant is like a sponge for oil), brush some more oil on and grill the cut side for 5-10 minutes until you see grill marks.

• Put the eggplant in a 180 °C oven for 10-20 minutes. Yes, that's a wide range, but eggplant can vary widely in cooking times depending on the shape. Skinny Japanese/Chinese eggplants will cook quickly while fat American eggplants (that's fat [American eggplants], not [fat American] eggplants) take longer. Check if it is soft by poking a skewer through it. If you have Indian eggplants, please don't eat them. They are too cute.

• Mix miso, sake, mirin, sugar and ginger in a bowl.

• When the eggplant is soft, spread this mixture over the surface of each half.

• Turn the oven to broil until the surface bubbles and just starts to char a bit -- about 5 minutes.

This eggplant is so flavourful it goes very well with rice -- and a beer to wash it down!