Outdoor Entertaining in Hawaii, with Recipes

Pan-seared Mahi Mahi with Eggplant Misoyaki

Chef Roy Yamaguchi features this recipe in his book, Roy's Fish & Seafood: Recipes from the Pacific Rim. Misoyaki is a miso-based glaze for meat and fish similar to teriyaki. Here, Chef Roy adapts a favorite childhood recipe for Eggplant Misoyaki and pairs it with pan-seared mahi mahi. Serve this dish with steamed saffron rice and edamame. The recipe calls for sake; serve glasses of the remaining sake, slightly warm, alongside the mahi mahi.

• 1/2 cup red miso
• 4 tablespoons sugar
• 2 tablespoons mirin (sweet rice wine)
• 2 tablespoons sake
• 8 Japanese eggplants, halved lengthwise, or 2 large eggplants, sliced into sixteen 1/4-inch-thick slices
• 1 cup olive oil, divided
• 8 (7-ounce) mahi mahi fillets
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Preheat broiler on high. In medium bowl combine miso, sugar, mirin, and sake. Stir until sugar dissolves. Score eggplant halves in crisscross pattern. Brush with 1/2 cup olive oil. In grill pan over medium-high heat or over medium-hot coals of charcoal grill, grill eggplant, flesh side down, 3 to 4 minutes or until cooked halfway through. Transfer to roasting pan, flesh side down. Brush eggplant with miso mixture; turn eggplant flesh side up. Place under broiler 4 to 5 inches from heat; cook 3 to 4 minutes until eggplant skin is caramelized. Remove from oven; keep warm.

Season mahi mahi with salt and pepper. In large skillet heat remaining 1/2 cup olive oil until oil is hot and shimmering. Sear mahi mahi 2 to 3 minutes per side until opaque throughout. To serve, place 2 eggplant halves or slices on each plate; top with fish. Makes 8 main-dish servings. (Recipe may be halved.)

Recipe adapted from Roy's Fish & Seafood: Recipes from the Pacific Rim, by Roy Yamaguchi with John Harrisson, © 2005 by Ten Speed Press. Used by permission.