Miso Gochujang Peanut Roasted Eggplant

A lovely side dish, suffused with flavor, this miso gochujang peanut roasted eggplant is super easy to make. Crushed peanuts add a welcome crunch!

If you’ve been reading along here for a while, you probably know that, like a lot of children, I did not like, detested, abhorred eggplant growing up. That all changed when my mom’s close friend, Lilian, a second generation Italian American made her eggplant parmigiana for me. 

The thing is, eggplant is relatively tasteless until you add seasonings or spices to it. But, now as an adult, I realize that is one of its best attributes! Just about every cuisine worldwide has eggplant dishes in its repertoire, with their own twist of spices, sauces and fillings. It’s so adaptable, adding extra hidden veg to sauces and stews or being the star of a dish.

Last summer a good friend gave me a new cookbook, Dominique’s Kitchen by Dominique Woolf who was the winner of Jamie Oliver’s show The Great Cookbook Challenge, where 18 contestants cooked to win a contract to publish their cookbooks. It is, as described in its tagline, “easy everyday Asian-inspired food.”

Dominique shares a recipe for a roasted eggplant dish with garlic, soy sauce, gochujang and honey that sounded intriguing. I bookmarked it but never quite got around to making it. Then recently, I read Ella Risbridger’s new cookbook, The Kitchen Book and came across her recipe for eggplant, roasted whole, with garlic, miso and sesame oil. This recipe is my mash up of the two. 

Miso Gochujang Peanut Roasted Eggplant

As mentioned above, this recipe is adapted from two recipes, one in The Kitchen Book by Ella Risbridger and another from Dominique’s Kitchen by Dominique Woolf. I highly recommend both books. 

Ingredients

2 eggplant (My two weighed 1 lb 10 ½ oz or 754g)

2 tablespoons sesame oil 

2 fat cloves garlic

3 tablespoons unsalted butter 

2 teaspoons miso 

1 tablespoon gochujang 

1/3 cup or 50g shelled, roasted peanuts 

Cilantro leaves, to garnish, optional

Method

Preheat your oven to 350°F or 180°C and line a baking pan with baking parchment or a silicone liner.

Cut the eggplant in half lengthwise. Use a sharp knife to cut a diamond pattern in the flesh, taking care not to pierce the skin.

Put them on your prepared baking pan and brush the eggplant with the sesame oil. 

Put the pan in your preheated oven. Bake for about 40-45 minutes, or until the eggplant are soft and blistered. I did five minutes on broil/grill at the end.

Meanwhile, peel then grate the garlic cloves into a small heatproof bowl. Add the butter. 

Microwave in 10 second bursts until the butter is melted. (It took mine just one minute.) Swirl every 10 seconds.

Stir in the miso and gochujang until smooth.  

Crush the peanuts in a mortar and pestle or with a rolling pin in a bag. You want some fine dust and some small bits. 

Take the roasted eggplant out of the oven. 

Fork the flesh to break it up. 

Spoon over the garlic-miso-gochujang butter, and fork it right through. 

Sprinkle with the crushed peanuts. 

Garnish with cilantro leaves, if desired. 

Enjoy! 

It’s Sunday Fun and today we are sharing recipes with peanuts and/or peanut butter in celebration of National Peanut Day which is today! Many thanks to our host, Amy from Amy’s Cooking Adventures. Check out the link list below.

• Congress Kadlekai Spiced Peanut Snack by Sizzling Tastebuds
• Frozen Chocolate Peanut Butter Truffles by Karen's Kitchen Stories
• Homemade Butterfingers by Amy’s Cooking Adventures
• Miso Gochujang Peanut Roasted Eggplant by Food Lust People Love
• Peanut Butter Muffins by Mayuri's Jikoni
• Skrewball Brownies by A Messy Kitchen
• Thai Chicken Pasta Salad by A Day in the Life on the Farm
• Vrat Shengdanyachi Amti by Sneha's Recipe
• Warm Peanut Butter Sauce for Dipping by Our Good Life

 

We are a group of food bloggers who believe that Sunday should be a family fun day, so every Sunday we share recipes that will help you to enjoy your day. If you're a blogger interested in joining us, just visit our Facebook group and request to join.

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