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miso

Super easy roasted sesame miso eggplant with coconut rice

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The soft „meat“ of the eggplant, soaked with flavour of the sesame miso marinade combined with creamy coconut rice and a baby spinach salad. Way easier than it sounds. And so delicious. 30 minutes, full of flavour, healthy and comforting.

I have never been to Japan, unfortunately, but it definitely is one of the top destinations of my travel list. I just really like all of the flavours, spices and fermented goods in their cuisine. Since the current situation makes travelling a bit difficult, it is time for us to bring Japan home! Taking the delicious and decadent flavours and making masterpieces out of them in the kitchen! And also, here is no better way to start into the slightly colder season than with some good comfort food. Heating up the oven and baking and the bubbling food on the stove. A super soft on the inside eggplant and creamy rice is the perfect dish for such occasions.

What is special about this dish?

Kind of everything, to be honest. The eggplant that is prepared and soaked up with the slightly sweet but so delicious asian marinade and baked to perfection and the rice that is not you average side dish rice but made with much more flavour.

What is miso and where can you get it?

Miso is a paste made from fermented soy beans and salt. It originated in Japan and is typically used in Asian, especially Japanese cuisine. Probably it’s most common use is in miso soup, which you can find at most Japanese restaurants. There are several different kinds of miso paste, from black to yellow and sweet so sour. For this recipe, I would recommend using a yellow/ light one without added sugar since we are adding the sweetness ourselves.

You can find Miso paste at pretty much any asian grocery store. It also often can be found at health stores or organic markets because of its high content of probiotics (through fermentation) or speciality stores.

Is this dish healthy?

I would definitely say so! You get great nutrients such as vitamins and fibre form the eggplant and also healthy probiotics from the miso (although there won’t be as much due to heating it up). The rice adds some great carbohydrates and protein and the coconut milk adds a healthy dose of fats. The only thing you should note is that this dish is a bit high in sodium because of its Miso and soy sauce content. If you have issues with sodium or make it sodium reduced, you can long for sodium reduced soy sauce, which you can find at any supermarket!

Meal prep & friendly?!

Yes and yes! You can very well store this in containers and heat it up whenever you want to enjoy it. The flavours will stay and consistency wise the reheating won’t be a problem. It also is pretty family friendly and a great way to sneak some more veggies onto the plates. If in your family, someone cannot go without meat, an easy way to include this is to just add some chicken, prawns or any other meat/ seafood of your preference into the marinade and then just fry it up in a pan while the eggplant is baking!

I hope that you will enjoy this recipe and that it gets you a little bit excited for the colder season ahead of us!

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Super easy roasted sesame miso eggplant with coconut rice

Soft eggplant that is full of flavor and easy to make paired with some dreamy, creamy coconut rice and a fresh salad!

Course dinner, lunch, Main Course
Cuisine asian, Japanese
Prep Time 5 Minuten
Cook Time 35 Minuten
Total Time 40 Minuten
Servings 4 people
Calories 530 kcal

What you will need

For the eggplant:

  • 2 eggplants
  • 1 tbsp Tahini
  • 3 tbsp miso paste
  • 1 tbsp sesame oil
  • a few drops Worcestershire sauce
  • 1 tsp hot sauce
  • 6 tbsp soy sauce
  • 2 tbsp maple syrup

For the rice:

  • 250 g rice
  • 200 ml coconut milk
  • 300 ml water

For the rest:

  • 4 handful baby spinach
  • 2 scallions (spring onions)
  • 2 tbsp sesame seeds

How to

  1. Cut the eggplants lengthwise. Carefully cut a grid-pattern into each half of the eggplant. This only is supposed to add some depth to the eggplant to soak up the flavor better. Do not cut the eggplant through!

  2. In a bowl/ tupperware combine all of the inrgedients for the sauce. Place the eggplant halfes, pattern side down in the marinade and let marinade for about 2-4 hours if you have got the time (if you do not, continue on from the next step).

  3. Preheat the oven to 200°C. Place the eggplant halves on a baking tray and brush some of that remaining dressing into the grids. Bake the eggplant for 25-30 minutes. Take them out of the oven, heat it up to 225°C. Brush the eggplants again and bake for another 5 minutes.

  4. In the meantime add the rice along with the coconut milk, some salt and water to a pot and bring to a boil. Reduce to a simmer and let simmer until all liquid is absorbed. Cover and let steam on very low heat for another 3-5 minutes until the rice is soft.

  5. Wash the baby spinach and toss it with some slat, pepper,a nd the remaining eggplant marinade.

  6. Divide the rice and salad onto the plates and add the eggplant on top. Sprinkle with sesame seeds, chopped up scallions and cliantro. Enjoy!

Happy cooking,
Enjoy,
Katie // Une Petite Cuisinière

Miso Sweet Potato w/ Coconut Rice

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Is so incredibly addicting and satisfying, which is crazy! It’s just like miso black cod or anything sticky and sweet, just that it covers sweet potatoes. Plus, there is a curry vibe because we have some steamed coconut rice, aka rice boiled in coconut milk. Place both of these things in a bowl, sprinkle some nuts, and you will never wanna order takeout ever again.

No, I am serious, it really is good. I absolutely love miso, like a lot. I have always liked it, but then I went to a restaurant over Christmas break and had that black miso yuzu cod, and let me tell you, this was out of this world. So. Fricking. Good. I tried marking something similar to the miso at home for the sweet potatoes and I have to say that it did not turn out terribly, no definitely not. Although it is not quite the same, because I don’t know how the chef there made it, this was incredible, it is super delicious!

So before you ask yourself ‘what even is miso?’ I am going to give you a little information. Miso actually is a fermented soy pasta. You can buy it at most super markets or Asian markets. It is available in black and white. For this recipe, I used the black miso paste, but I am sure that the white one will work as well. Miso is mostly eaten in Japan, where also the popular miso soup is from. So, in this recipe we are using the same miso as in the soup, but prepare it differently.

To make the miso glazed sweet potatoes, we do not need a lot of things. Sweet potatoes, of course, cut into slices, some miso pasta, soy sauce, some sriracha or hot sauce, rice wine vinegar, agave or honey, a little lime juice, and if not vegan some fish sauce. This adds an extra touch but is not necessary. We combine all the ingredients for the sauce in a bowl and let the sweet potatoes marinate in there for about 30min-1h. If you do not have that time, then leave it out but I would still recommend you to do it. Once they are marinated, we grill them on a grill or you can also pan-fry them or even bake in the oven. Just do whatever sounds best to you.

So we have the main star of the show but we still need something to serve it with. And this something is coconut rice. Honestly, this is life changing. This coconut rice goes so incredibly well with anything, be it curry, stir fry, just some steamed vegetables or some chicken skewers. Anything Asian is perfect to be served with this. We make this rice by simply adding it to a pot. Next we add a mixture out of coconut milk and water and a generous pinch of salt. Bring it to a boil, reduce to very low heat and let simmer for about 10 minutes. Here you go, super easy but so much flavor. Honestly you will never skip this when making your next curry.

For serving, I like to put everything in a bowl, sprinkle with some cashews or peanuts, some fresh cilantro, some shredded coconut, and a lime wedge for decoration. This dish honestly is super good, and a great weeknight dinner. You can also meal prep it very well. For example make the sweet potatoes ahead of time and add them to salads or stir frys throughout the week.

I hope that you like this recipe and will enjoy making it!

Love Katie || Une Petite Cuisiniere

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Miso Sweet Potato with Coconut Rice

An addictively good twist on regular sweet potatoes served with steemed coconut rice on which you never want to miss out ever again. So good.

Course bowl, dinner, lunch
Cuisine asian, Japanese
Prep Time 10 Minuten
Cook Time 20 Minuten
Total Time 1 Stunde
Servings 4 servings
Calories 546 kcal

What you will need

For the Miso Sweet Potatoes:

  • 2 medium sweet potatoes
  • 2 tbsp miso paste
  • 1 tbsp soy sauce
  • 1/2 Lime juiced
  • 2 tsp sriracha
  • 2 tsp rice wine vinegar
  • 1/2 tbsp honey or maple
  • 1-2 tbsp water
  • 1/2 tbsp sesame oil

For the Coconut Rice:

  • 250 g Rice
  • 200 ml Coconut Milk
  • 300 ml water
  • 1 tsp salt

For Garnish:

  • 2 handful greens can be any greens of your choice, I would recommend using fresh spinach or a salad mix
  • some cilantro
  • a few cashews or peanuts
  • lime wedges
  • coconut flakes.

How to

That’s how it works:

  1. Wash and peel the sweet potato if not having bought organic ones. In a Bowl mix all the ingredients for the sauce. Slice up the sweet potatoes into about 1cm thick slices. Place them in a bowl and pour over the sauce. Let marinate for about 30-60 minutes. If you do not have the time to do that, then pour over the sauce when grilling or cooking. 

    Meanwhile add the rice to a pot along with the coconut milk, water and a generous pinch of salt. Bring to a boil, then reduce to very low heat, cover and let simmer for about 10-12 minutes. 

    Heat up a pan with a little sesame oil, or heat a grill brushed with olive oil, or preheat the oven to 200*C. If making in the pan or grill, fry on each side for about a minutes at medium to high heat. In the oven bake for about 15-20 minutes, flipping halfway through. 

    Separate the rice on the bowls. Add the fresh greens, top with the sweet potato and add some cilantro, cashews or peanuts, some more shredded coconut (optional) and a lime wedge to garnish. Serve and enjoy!