Friends Charlie Farrelly-Gruar and Seymore Harrison have paired up through a love of cooking to not only nourish and bring people together but to also use their passion to encourage healthy mental health conversations. As The Eggplant Boys, their creative recipes and tongue-in-cheek cooking videos are proving a winning Instagram formula.
What does Sunday look like in your kitchen?
Charlie: Typically, it’s feeding a lot of people, either for UFC Sundays, after an activity, or a pool day around home. Most recently I marinated some big hunks of pork in a herb mix over night, then slow cooked it for eight hours with some braai spice mix [a South African barbecue rub], and made pulled pork tacos. Amazing taste and such an easy way to feed a big group.
Seymore: Sunday is a good time to turn the brain off, if I’m not out on the golf course or surfing I’ll be giving a new recipe ago. Latest recipe was a homemade duck ramen, which was a 10/10.
Why have you chosen this dish?
We chose this dish firstly because it tastes absolutely amazing. We both love the miso eggplant at Nishiki and at Tokyo Club, both in Ponsonby. We wanted to share an eggplant dish for obvious reasons but to also play around with the idea that you don’t need to eat meat for every dish. The reality is you can create amazing tasty meals out of veges and - don’t get us wrong we love meat - be a bit more creative than the classic meat and three vege we’re used to.
Miso eggplant
Serves 8 as a side
4 big eggplants
Cheese, to serve (optional)
Sesame seeds and chopped spring onion, to garnish
Miso glaze
¼ cup miso paste
1 Tbsp diced fresh ginger
1 Tbsp maple or agave syrup
2 Tbsp rice vinegar
1 Tbsp sesame oil
1 Tbsp soy sauce
1. For the miso glaze, mix all ingredients in a bowl and set aside.
2. Half your eggplants lengthwise and score on the flesh side being careful not to cut all the way through.
3. Oil the scored side of your eggplant and preheat your barbecue. If you have a hot plate and a grill, have the grill side on medium-high and the hot plate on low, otherwise have a high and a low section.
4. Firstly sear the flesh side on the hot section of the barbecue till the flesh is golden brown, 5 or so minutes.
5. Flip the eggplant to the low section of the barbecue with the skin down, and cook for a further 5-10 minutes. While this side is cooking, brush the miso glaze on the scored flesh.
6. Once the skin side Is browning, and the flesh side is soft and squishy, flip the eggplants back to the hot side with the flesh down for a minute or so to caramelise the miso glaze.
7. Once that is brown and crispy, flip back to the low side. This is where you can add cheese on the top, if desired.
8. Pull off grill, brush with any leftover glaze, cover in sesame seeds, and serve.