I’ve recently been diagnosed with nearly-diabetes, and naturally, I am very keen to try to reverse that. It seems the best approach is near-starvation for a couple of months, a bit extreme. Because I’m travelling it’s also not very practical, but what I can do is to massively cut down on anything too outrageously starchy: that means that white rice, white bread, non-wholemeal pasta…. and my favourite potatoes are all off the menu.

Ah, potatoes! The ultimate comfort food…. there’s a whole post on the healing powers of mash on Saucy Dressings (follow this link). And the helpful potato even produces a sort of instant, pre-packaged version in the form of the jacket potato – simply slit, bake, add butter, salt and pepper, et voilà!

But did you know that the aubergine is just as accommodating? Criss-cross slits, drizzle in olive oil, bake, add a seasoning, et voilà again! The aubergine too is conveniently pre-packaged, also in its own skin.

In this recipe, however, the seasoning is a little bit special because, unlike the baked potato which remains enclosed in its skin, the aubergine has a surface exposed, so the seasoning and sauce takes the form of a golden Japanese-inspired glaze. Sounds gorgeous… it is. Sounds a bit fiddly and exotic…it isn’t – it’s just a mix of mirin (or sherry or vermouth), miso (or soy…. or just salt), and honey.

Serve each person with a glazed aubergine half, still in its skin, for them to gauge out with their knife and fork… goes really well with labneh. In fact, white fish fillets cooked with onion, garlic, parsley and dry martini, go brilliantly with roasted baby tomatoes and these Japanese aubergines.

Here’s what to do.

Quick Japanese aubergines, aka Nasu Dengaku

This serves two people as an accompaniment.

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Serves – 2

Ingredients

• 1 large aubergine
• 2 tbsps olive oil…maybe a little more
• 1½ tbsps mirin…or sake, or sherry, or pink vermouth
• 1 tbsp miso (I use white miso). If you don’t have this you can substitute with a thick soy sauce, or a pinch or two of salt
• 2 tsps honey, the bitterer the better, chestnut is a good choice
• 2 tsps sesame seeds (or you could use furikake)
• Snipped chives or spring onions… or failing those, some nigella seeds

Instructions

1. Preheat your oven to 210°C.
2. Line a baking tray with foil (to save washing up) and oil it.
3. Halve the aubergines, and cut a criss-cross deep into each without cutting through the skin.
4. Slightly open out each half and drizzle in a little olive oil between the cuts.
5. Roast in the oven for about ten minutes.
6. Meanwhile mix together the mirin, miso and honey (to make a sort of dengaku miso).
7. Spread this mix over the aubergines and return to the oven for another ten minutes or so – watch and check, the miso mix needs to caramelise, but not to burn.
8. When the aubergine is cooked through and soft, serve with sesame seeds and chives sprinkled over, still in the skin, for guests to scoop out.

For more on different types of aubergine, follow this link.