I haven’t cooked Japanese for a while and when I saw this recipe  I was inspired to serve it with my favourite teriyaki chicken. Great combination. I went easy on the original recipe’s sugar (for obvious reasons) as organic carrots are sweet enough, but you do need a bit to balance the flavours. I also only had plain sesame seeds – did the job for me! Simple and easy.

Serves 4 as a side dish
carrots 500g, assorted
garlic 4 cloves
groundnut oil 3 tbsp
ginger 25g, fresh
sake 200ml
light soy sauce 1 tbsp
white (shiro) miso 3 tbsp
caster sugar 2 tbsp
cabbage 150g
black sesame seeds 2 tsp

Method

Heat the oven to 200C/gas mark 6. Trim the carrots, leaving a short tuft of stems at the top. Halve the carrots lengthways then put them in a roasting tin. Peel the garlic, tuck it among the carrots then pour over the oil. Season with black pepper then toss the carrots in the oil. Roast for 35 minutes, until they are appetisingly golden.

Grate the ginger into a small saucepan, then add the sake, soy sauce, white miso and caster sugar and place over a moderate heat. Bring almost to the boil, stirring until the sugar has dissolved. Lower the heat and simmer for about 10 minutes, until it has reduced by half.

Finely shred the cabbage. When the carrots are ready, remove them to a serving dish. Place the roasting tin over a moderate heat and add the shredded cabbage. Toss the cabbage in the oil in the pan then tip the miso dressing in. Spoon the cabbage and dressing over the roasted carrots then scatter the sesame seeds over.