Ingredients: 4 Chinese/Japanese eggplants, Miso paste, minced garlic, soy sauce, rice vinegar, honey, sesame oil, green onions, sesame seeds

Prep time: 10 minutes Cook time: 40 minutes

材料：4 根中國/日本茄子、味噌、蒜末、醬油、米醋、蜂蜜、麻油、蔥、芝麻

準備時間：10 分鐘 烹煮時間：40 分鐘

Directions:

• Preheat oven at 350 degrees F. Lay foil paper on a large baking sheet. Generously use vegetable oil to coat the foil paper.
• Wash and dry eggplants. Slice each eggplant into 3 sections. Cut each section in half lengthwise. Place eggplants in a big bowl. Add 1/4 teaspoon of salt and 2 tablespoons of vegetable oil in the bowl and mix them well with hands.
• Align eggplant slices, skin side up, on the baking sheet. Bake for 20 minutes.
• At the meantime, mix together 2 tablespoons of soy sauce, 1 tablespoon of miso paste, 1 tablespoon of vinegar, 1 teaspoon of minced garlic, 1 teaspoon of sesame oil and 2 tablespoons of honey in a bowl. Finely chopped 1-2 green onions.
• Remove eggplants from the oven after 20 minutes. Turn the slices over, skin side down. Use a spoon to evenly pour the mixed sauce onto eggplant slices. If necessary, use the back of the spoon to spread the sauce on the eggplant.
• Return the eggplant back to the oven. Bake for another 15 minutes.
• Take the eggplants out from the oven. Increase oven temperature to 400 degrees F. Garnish eggplant slices with chopped green onions and sesame seeds.
• Place eggplant back to oven. Bake at 400 degrees F for 5 minutes.

作法：

• 烤箱預熱至華氏350度。烤盤鋪上鋁鉑紙並在上面厚厚塗一層蔬菜油。
• 茄子洗淨擦乾，每根茄子先切成3段，再縦切成兩半。茄子放在一個大盆子中，加1/4小匙鹽和2大匙蔬菜油，用手拌勻。
• 把茄子鋪在烤盤上，皮面朝上。放入烤箱烤20分鐘。
• 取1個小碗，放入2大匙醬油，1大匙味噌，1大匙醋，1小匙蒜末，1小匙芝蔴油和2大匙蜂蜜，攪拌均勻備用。把1-2根葱切成細葱花。
• 20 分鐘後，把烤盤取出，茄子翻面，皮朝下。用湯匙把混合好的醬汁，均勻灑在茄子上。需要的話，也可以用湯匙背面來將醬汁塗均勻。
• 再把茄子放回烤箱，用華氏350度烤15分鐘。
• 把茄子從烤箱取出。烤箱溫度增加到華氏400度。把葱花和芝蔴粒灑在茄子上。
• 把茄子放回烤箱，用華氏400度烤5分鐘即可。

Note: I enjoys the soft and tender texture of eggplant and its rich flavor of miso paste in this roast eggplant dish. I first had this dish in a Japanese restaurant and I was surprised by the size of the eggplant served. I can’t tell the difference between Chinese eggplant and Japanese eggplant by its texture or taste. It appears Japanese eggplants can be two times bigger in circumference than Chinese ones. I will choose big ones for this recipe. I used black sesame seeds this time because I didn’t have white ones in hand. However, white sesame seeds are more flavorful than black ones. You can use either of them. This dish is delicious and nutritious. You can eat as much as you want and it is all good for you.

筆記：我喜歡這道日式烤茄子，茄子軟糯加上味噌調醬豐富的味道，十分美味。我是在一間日本餐廳第一次吃到這道菜，驚訝於盤子上茄子的大小。我從茄上的質感和味道吃不出日本茄子和中國茄子的差別，似乎日本茄子的截面直徑是中國茄子的兩倍大。這道菜我會選用直徑大的茄子來做。我做這道菜示範時，因為手邊沒有白芝麻，就用黑芝麻代替。不過若是用白芝麻，吃起來會更香。這道茄子不只美味而且非常營養，是可以放心儘量吃的一道菜。