Air Fryer Eggplant with Miso Sauce

After publishing my spicy eggplant stir fry recipe, fairly a couple of folks requested if there was a option to put together the eggplant with much less oil. In that recipe, I shallow fry eggplant in 3/4 cup of oil, which softens the eggplant properly, whereas preserving the beautiful purple hue of the pores and skin. Admittedly, I don’t cook dinner meals recurrently with that a lot oil both.

That’s why I developed this air fryer eggplant recipe, which is extra sensible for on a regular basis meals. 

It makes use of a lot much less oil, and the eggplant has a pleasant comfortable texture as soon as it’s cooked. Merely brush the eggplant with oil and pop into the air fryer. I’m pairing the eggplant with an umami-packed miso sauce that’s evenly candy. The eggplant is so scrumptious, you’ll need to eat the entire batch by your self!

COOKING NOTES FOR AIR FRYER EGGPLANT

USING ASIAN EGGPLANT

Usually, I like cooking with the lengthy and skinny number of purple eggplant, which may be labeled as Asian, Chinese language, or Japanese eggplant in shops or farmers markets. This number of eggplant has smaller seeds and usually isn’t bitter. If you’ll find Asian eggplant, I extremely suggest utilizing it for this recipe. In any other case, be happy to substitute with no matter eggplant you may get your arms on.

SAUCE INGREDIENTS

The components record for the sauce is fairly simple. Nonetheless, I wished to deal with two components which may be barely harder to seek out: miso and gochugaru.

Miso

When creating the recipe, I used white miso (see {photograph} above), which is a sweeter and fewer fermented number of miso. When you can solely discover crimson miso or another number of miso, I like to recommend tasting the miso first. If the paste has a reasonably robust funky fermented taste, add 1 tablespoon of the miso to the sauce first. Then, style the sauce and add extra if wanted. 

The place to seek out miso: You’ll be able to typically discover miso in Asian grocery shops or the refrigerated meals aisles close to different fermented meals.

Gochugaru

I like utilizing gochugaru, Korean pepper flakes, in my cooking as a result of it brightens up the flavour of the dish with out including an excessive amount of spice. If gochugaru is tough to seek out, you should use 2 teaspoons of paprika as a substitute. The flavour profile will probably be a bit completely different, however it’ll positively improve the flavour of the sauce.

The place to seek out gochugaru: Yow will discover gochugaru in Korean grocery shops, the Asian meals aisles of basic grocery shops, or on Amazon (these are my favourite manufacturers: Mom-in-Regulation’s and Wang Korea (affiliate hyperlinks). 

TYPE OF AIR FRYER I USED

I personal a Cosori air fryer (affiliate hyperlink) that has a big air fryer basket that I push right into a machine. There are such a lot of kinds of air fryers in the marketplace proper now. Some are multi-function toaster ovens with air frying capabilities; Prompt Pot has developed an air fryer lid which you could fasten onto some fashions of pots. The heating mechanisms for all of those machines differ. Use the cooking occasions in my recipe as a tenet–you could want to extend or lower the cooking time by a minute or two. 

CAN I MAKE THIS RECIPE WITHOUT AN AIR FRYER?

You’ll be able to bake the eggplant on lined baking sheets at 400ºF (205ºC). The eggplant will take twice as lengthy to cook dinner.

WHAT TO SERVE WITH AIR FRYER EGGPLANT

Carbs

Protein

PRINT
EMAIL
PIN

Servings: 4

Writer: Lisa Lin

Air Fryer Eggplant with Miso Sauce

This air fryer eggplant deserves a spot in your weeknight dinner rotation! The recipe options tender eggplant topped with a evenly candy miso sauce that’s full of umami taste. I like utilizing Asian eggplant (generally known as Chinese language or Japanese eggplant) for this recipe as a result of they’ve small seeds and have a tendency to not be bitter. Be happy to make use of no matter eggplant you’ll find. When creating this recipe, I used a Cosori air fryer (the one with a big basket). There are numerous types of air fryers in the marketplace, every with barely completely different heating mechanisms. Use the cooking occasions under as a tenet–you could want to extend or lower the cooking occasions by a minute or two.

Prep Time15 minutes minutes

Cook dinner Time30 minutes minutes

Elements

• 1/2 cup (118mL) water
• 1/4 teaspoon cornstarch
• 4 to five tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, divided
• 2 tablespoons minced garlic
• 1 tablespoon soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon gochugaru (Korean pepper flakes), (see be aware 1)
• 2 teaspoons sugar
• 1 1/2 tablespoons white miso, (see be aware 2)
• 1 1/4 to 1 1/2 kilos (567g to 680g) Chinese language or Japanese eggplant
• sea salt or kosher salt
• toasted sesame seeds, for garnish
• sliced scallions or chives, for garnish

Directions

Make Sauce

• Stir the water and cornstarch in a bowl and put aside.

• In a saucepan over medium warmth, add 1 tablespoon of olive oil. Add the minced garlic and cook dinner for 30 seconds to a minute, stirring regularly. Give the cornstarch and water a fast stir once more, in case the cornstarch settles to the underside of the bowl. Rigorously pour the water into the saucepan. Subsequent, add the soy sauce, gochugaru, and sugar. As soon as the liquid reaches a boil, cut back the warmth barely and let it simmer for one more 2 to three minutes.

• Flip off the warmth and add the miso paste to the saucepan. Whisk the paste into the sauce. It often takes me a few minute to totally incorporate the miso. Set the sauce apart.

Air Fry Eggplant

• Preheat the air fryer to 400ºF (205ºC). Working in batches, add the eggplant slices to the basket of your air fryer in a single layer. Attempt to not overlap the eggplant slices. Cook dinner for 4 minutes. Flip the eggplant over and cook dinner for one more 3 to 4 minutes, till the eggplant seems to be softened and barely browned. Switch the cooked eggplant to a plate and proceed air frying the remaining eggplant.

End Dish

• Utilizing a spoon, unfold miso sauce over all of the eggplant slices. Garnish with sesame seeds and scallions. Serve the eggplant with jasmine rice or egg fried rice. You’ll doubtless have leftover miso sauce. Drizzle it over the rice! For some protein on the facet, I like serving the eggplant with a fried egg or teriyaki tofu.

Notes

1. Substituting Gochugaru: If gochugaru is tough to seek out, you should use 2 teaspoons of paprika as a substitute. The flavour profile will probably be a bit completely different, however it’ll positively improve the flavour of the sauce.
2. White Miso Alternate options: When you can solely discover crimson miso or another number of miso, I like to recommend tasting the miso first. If the paste has a reasonably robust funky fermented taste, add 1 tablespoon of the miso to the sauce first. Then, style the sauce and add extra if wanted.
3. Make Forward Ideas: You’ll be able to air fry the eggplant and put together the sauce a couple of days forward. Refrigerate the cooked eggplant and sauce individually. Warmth the eggplant in a skillet and the sauce in a saucepan for a number of minutes, till heated by means of.
4. Variation Utilizing Fuyu Butter: As an alternative of miso sauce, you may slather a few of my fuyu butter on the air-fried eggplant. Fuyu is Chinese language fermented bean curd. 

Diet

Serving: 4slices of eggplant | Energy: 192kcal | Carbohydrates: 15.2g | Protein: 3g | Fats: 14.9g | Saturated Fats: 2.1g | Sodium: 284mg | Fiber: 5.4g | Sugar: 7.5g

Did you make this recipe?Tag @hellolisalin or go away a star ranking and touch upon the weblog!