{"id":2953,"date":"2015-01-16T09:51:47","date_gmt":"2015-01-16T14:51:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/apa.si.edu\/picklesandtea\/?p=2953"},"modified":"2015-01-16T10:42:36","modified_gmt":"2015-01-16T15:42:36","slug":"microwaved-miso-eggplant","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/apa.si.edu\/picklesandtea\/microwaved-miso-eggplant\/","title":{"rendered":"Microwaved Miso Eggplant"},"content":{"rendered":"

I love eggplant: Eggplant in baba ghanouj, eggplant in spicy tomato sauce<\/a>, eggplant cooked fish-fragrant-style, the list goes on.<\/p>\n

As much as I enjoy eggplant in all its permutations, one thing I don\u2019t do much of is cook eggplant.<\/p>\n

I don\u2019t care for the tedium of salting eggplant (although the debate is up in the air about this technique\u2019s effectiveness, as my friend Ann Mah’s\u00a0post <\/a>explores). Many recipes I\u2019ve wanted to try involve multiple steps, quite often deep-frying. And overall, eggplant just looks so intimidating–perhaps it has something to do with its royal color?<\/p>\n

So when I came across this genius recipe<\/a> by microwave guru Barbara Kafka (her cookbook Microwave Gourmet<\/em><\/a> is game-changing!). I knew I had to try cooking eggplant in the microwave.<\/p>\n

In the past, my sole reason for having a microwave oven in the kitchen was to heat up food and drinks. Why cook in the microwave when I had a stove and oven? Then I discovered the ease of microwaving rice<\/a>. And boom, I embarked on a journey of discovery that led to microwaved fish, microwaved eggs and even microwaved nutella mug cake<\/a>!<\/p>\n

Like many microwave recipes, cooking eggplant is a minimal-step process. I skipped the salting, made the marinade, let the eggplant sit for a little bit, et voil\u00e0, the dish was ready after 10-minute spin in the microwave.<\/p>\n

I have to admit, the flesh crinkled up unprettily, but it was also soft and silky, bursting with the salty (miso), sweet (sugar) and spicy (ginger) flavors of the marinade. That’s a small price to pay for a faster and cleaner way to cook eggplant, with delicious results. And I intend to use it.<\/p>\n

~~~<\/p>\n

Microwaved Miso Eggplant<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\"miso<\/a><\/p>\n

I adapted the miso marinade from a recipe in my cookbook but there\u2019s no reason why you couldn\u2019t use your favorite marinade, even store-bought! If you can find Chinese or Japanese eggplant (4 to 5 small ones will make a pound), halve them lengthwise and make a crosshatch pattern in the flesh.<\/p>\n

Makes: 4 servings as part of a multi-course family meal
\nTime: 15 minutes, plus marinating time<\/p>\n

3 tablespoons miso (red or white is fine)
\n1 tablespoon sugar
\n2 tablespoons dry sherry or sake
\n1\/4 cup water
\n1 teaspoon grated fresh ginger (a 1-by-1\/4-inch piece)
\n1 (1-pound) globe eggplant
\nBlack or white sesame seeds<\/p>\n

Whisk together the miso, sugar, sherry, and water \u00a0in a small bowl until smooth.<\/p>\n

Cut the eggplant into 3\/4-inch discs, then carefully cut a shallow X on each surface. Place the eggplant in your largest microwave-safe dish. if you cant get them in a single layer, that’s okay.<\/p>\n

Spoon the marinade over each disc, rubbing it into the flesh so that it runs into the X. Turn to coat and let sit for 45 minutes.<\/p>\n

Cover tightly with a lid (if it doesn’t have a hole, leave it slightly ajar) or microwave plastic wrap (prick plastic to release steam). Cook at 100 percent power in a high-power oven for 10 minutes (my oven is 1100 watts) or until soft and crinkly.<\/p>\n

Remove from microwave and uncover. Sprinkle with sesame seeds and serve warm with freshly-steamed rice.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I love eggplant: Eggplant in baba ghanouj, eggplant in spicy tomato sauce, eggplant cooked fish-fragrant-style, the list goes on. As much as I enjoy eggplant in all its permutations, one thing I don\u2019t do much of is cook eggplant. I don\u2019t care for the tedium…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2957,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[44,632,633,399,37],"tags":[482,394,634],"class_list":["post-2953","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-japanese","category-microwave","category-sides","category-vegan","category-vegetarian","tag-easy-recipe","tag-eggplant","tag-microwave-cooking"],"yoast_head":"\nMicrowaved Miso Eggplant - Pickles and Tea<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/apa.si.edu\/picklesandtea\/microwaved-miso-eggplant\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Microwaved Miso Eggplant - Pickles and Tea\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"I love eggplant: Eggplant in baba ghanouj, eggplant in spicy tomato sauce, eggplant cooked fish-fragrant-style, the list goes on. 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