Miso, or Japanese soybean paste, is a condiment that’s frequently used in Japan. If your miso is ignored and pushed to the back of your fridge, it’s time to take it out and try this easy miso recipe! Miso is a very versatile ingredient, and you can use it for soup (miso soup), a marinade base for your protein (fish/meat), or hearty dressing! Today we’ll use miso to make a sauce, and this dish is called Miso Dengaku (味噌田楽).
What is Miso Dengaku?
Simply put, Miso Dengaku (味噌田楽) is a miso glazed dish, and popular ingredients for this recipe include tofu, eggplant, daikon, and konnyaku. Most of the ingredients are all vegetarian/vegan, but sometimes white fish is used for miso dengaku, and it’s called Gyoden (魚田) or Fish Dengaku. Tofu and eggplant are usually skewered and grilled (over charcoal, in the frying pan, or the oven), but konnyaku and daikon are boiled before a thick coating of sweet miso is slathered on top. Miso Dengaku has been around since 1500’s. The name dengaku comes from dengaku boshi (田楽法師), a stilt dancer who performed for the god of rice field during rice planting. Since the skewered tofu resembles dengaku boshi, the dish started to be called Miso Dengaku.
The Miso Glaze – Dengaku Miso
This miso sauce is called dengaku miso (田楽味噌) and it’s sweet but it’s also savory. For aromatics, the miso sauce can include sesame seeds, yuzu zest, shiso leaves, or kinome leaves (a Japanese herb from the Japanese Prickly Ash “aka Szechuan Peppercorn” tree.) sprinkle on top of the miso glaze. Each region uses slightly different types of miso. Red miso, especially dark, pungent hatcho miso (from Nagoya region) is most commonly used for Miso Dengaku. However, white miso, saikyo miso (a type of white miso used in Kyoto) or any type of miso can be used for this dish. As miso is very flavorful and more on salty side, we balance out the strong salty flavor with sugar and mirin. An equal amount of miso and sugar are mixed together, but I think that’s a bit too sweet for those who never had this dish. Therefore, I reduced the amount of sugar, but still sweeten the sauce with mirin and sake. If you look at the ingredient list, the amount of sugar might put you off, but give this authentic flavor a try. Remember miso has very bold and salty taste, so you’ll need to balance it out with sweetness. Alternatively, you can start with half of sugar/mirin and taste the dengaku miso before you gradually increase the amount of sugar/mirin. If you feel the miso flavor is too strong (especially hatcho miso), you can add dashi to dilute a bit (in Japan egg yolk is also used, but I don’t recommend consuming raw egg here).
4 Ways Enjoy Miso Dengaku
1. Tofu Dengaku 豆腐の田楽
Tofu might often taste bland (especially if you get supermarket-quality tofu), but with Dengaku Miso slathered on top of tofu, this dish is a total game changer for those who get bored eating simple tofu! Make this dish as a main dish and serve with soba noodles. It’ll be one of your new favorite Meatless Monday dish!
2. Nasu Dengaku ナスの田楽
Among the four Miso Dengaku dishes I share today, this is my favorite. Sweet miso glaze caramelized under the oven, the tender eggplant and flavorful miso is a match in heaven! When eggplants are cooked, they absorb and trap all the delicious flavors!
3. Furofuki Daikon Dengaku ふろふき大根の田楽
Piping-hot daikon radish slathered in fragrant and flavorful miso sauce, this Japanese comfort dish is a perfect dish on a cold winter night. You see daikon radish all year around, but the juicy and sweet daikon is in season during the winter months (November to February). Grab a daikon from Japanese or Asian grocery store and enjoy this winter vegetable with nice big dollop of sweet and savory miso sauce.
4. Konnyaku Dengaku こんにゃくの田楽
Konnyaku is a low-calorie and high-in-fiber ingredient made from yam powder. It’s prized for its unique texture which can be described as firm, chewy jelly- (JELL-O-) like texture. It doesn’t sound appetizing as a savory food? Well, maybe not until your first bite. Combined with a mouth-watering sweet and savory miso glaze, konnyaku brings wonderful texture and flavors to enjoy.
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