Nasu Dengaku Ramen with Pak Choi and Radish

I’ve been working on some fab BBQ recipes to go with the delicious Kabuto Noodles ramen kits. Here’s the first one.

Nasu Dengaku is just a fancy name for miso glazed aubergine. It’s one of my ‘go-to’ BBQ dishes when I have veggie or vegan friends visiting. Aubergine really soaks up flavours and takes on a delicious smokiness when grilled that works really well with the slight caramelisation from the miso and toasting of the sesame seeds. This is a really quick dish to cook and providing you have everything chopped and ready to go, you don’t even need to start grilling until you have put your noodles in to cook. 

You can dip the pak choi into the ramen broth for a minute or two if you like it softer. I personally really like the crunch of the almost raw veg in there though.

INGREDIENTS

·      1 x Kabuto Mellow Miso Ramen Kit

·      1 aubergine

·      1 pak choi cut into 6 lengthways (I used a couple of baby pak choi)

·      Handful of French breakfast radishes – thinly sliced lengthways

·      Sesame seeds

For the glaze:

·      1 tbsp sesame oil

·      2 tbsp miso paste

·      1 tbsp mirin

·      1 tbsp honey

To garnish:

·      Thinly sliced spring onions

·      Thinly sliced red chilli

·      Furikake seasoning included in the ramen kit

·      Aonori seaweed flakes

METHOD

1.     Mix all the glaze ingredients together into a smooth paste and set aside

2.     Set up your BBQ for direct grilling at a medium heat

3.     Slice the aubergine lengthways into 1cm slices and drizzle with oil

4.     Mix up the ramen broth and bring to a simmer then add the noodles

5.     Place the sliced aubergine on the grill for a couple of minutes until the flesh is golden brown then flip over to cook the other side

6.     Brush over the cooked side of aubergine with the miso glaze and sprinkle with sesame seeds

7.     Flip again and grill for 30 seconds more

8.     Brush and sprinkle the other side then flip and grill one last time 

9.     Each piece of aubergine should now have been grilled on each side twice – once without glaze and a second quick blast with the glaze

10.  Slice the grilled aubergine into 1cm wide strips and add to the bowl with the noodles, broth, radish and the quartered pak choi

11.  Garnish with spring onions, chilli furikake and aonori

Samurai tip – be alert when the glazed aubergine goes back on the grill, the high sugar content of the glaze will burn fairly quickly so it’s just a case of a quick flash on each side.