Miso-glazed eggplant

If you're looking to make something for Friday night dinner in, look no further than this Miso-Glazed Eggplant recipe. Momofuku For 2 describes the amazing flavor and texture best, it's like a "vegetable based, salty-sweet creme brulee." For me, I prefer this Asian style eggplant recipe, called Nasu Dengaku (or Miso-Glazed), over the commonplace Italian Eggplant Parmesan, often too heavy and laden in cheese and sauce.

Ingredients
1 tablespoons mirin
1 tablespoons sake (I substituted sherry wine because that's all I had)
2 tablespoons shiro miso (smooth miso paste, white preferably, but I used red)
3 tablespoons sugar
2 Japanese eggplants, cut in half lengthwise*
1/2 teaspoon sesame oil
toasted sesame seeds, for garnish
sliced green onions, for garnish

Place the mirin and sake in a small saucepan and bring to a simmer over medium heat. Simmer for about 2 minutes to allow some of the alcohol to cook off. Then add the miso and stir until smooth. Stir in the sugar, reduce the heat to very low, and continue to cook, stirring occasionally, while you broil the eggplants.

Brush the cut sides of the eggplants with the sesame oil. Put the eggplants cut-side down on a baking sheet and place under the broiler of your oven for about 3 minutes, checking often to make sure that they do not burn. Turn them over, and cook for another 3 minutes or until the tops are a light to medium brown. Do not burn! (If your eggplant still isn’t tender all the way through, turn the broil function to bake at 375˚ for a few more minutes; then proceed with the recipe.)

When the eggplants are tender, brush each one with the miso sauce and put them back under the broiler until the sauce bubbles up – this should take about one minute, so watch them closely. Enjoy hot, sprinkled with toasted sesame seeds and green onions.

Bon appetito! (I don't know how to say Enjoy! in Japanese!)