Ingredients
- Japanese rice vinegar 4 tbsp
- caster sugar 1 tbsp
- kombu a small piece (optional)
- yuzu ½, zested or 1 tsp juice (or use lime zest)
- white radish (mooli) 1, peeled and thinly sliced
- aubergine 1 large
- oil for deep frying
- den miso 50ml (see below)
- walnuts 50g, roughly chopped
- sesame seeds a pinch
- sansho or Szechuan pepper a pinch
- lemon wedges to serve
- brown miso paste 100g
- caster sugar 55g
- sake 40ml
- mirin 40ml
Method
-
Step 1
To make the den miso, whisk the ingredients together until smooth.
-
Step 2
Heat the vinegar, sugar, kombu and yuzu until the sugar dissolves. Season with salt. Toss the mooli with the mix, allow to cool, and chill for an hour.
-
Step 3
Heat the oven to 220C/fan 200C/gas 7. Peel the aubergine, and cut into 3cm chunks. Heat the oil in a pan, no more than 2/3 full, to 180C or until a piece of bread browns in 20 seconds. Fry the aubergine until golden, about 3 minutes. Drain well on kitchen paper.
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Step 4
Coat the fried aubergine generously in the den miso, put onto a lined baking tray and bake in the oven for 2-4 minutes until the den miso caramelises – keep your eye on it as the sugar will burn quite easily. Drain it again on kitchen paper before putting it on a serving plate. Scatter with chopped walnuts, sesame seeds, and a pinch of sansho pepper. Serve with the mooli and lemon.
Nutritional Information
- Kcals 254
- Saturates 2.1g
- Protein 4.4g
