There is nothing nicer than sharing the kitchen with someone else and creating a meal together. Not only is it a wonderful shared experience, it is a 2-in-1 fun fest. You get to make the food together and eat the food together! Earlier this week, my flatmate and I attempted to re-make an eggplant dish we had tried a few weeks ago in place called Forbidden City in Lower Hutt with our other friends. This dish was absolutely heavenly and whatever they did to the eggplant made it simultaneously soft and gooey but crunchy on the outside. It was basically one of the best Chinese vegetarian dishes I have ever eaten. Naturally, my food-fanatic friend, Bronwyn and I tried to re-create this monumental discovery in our little kitchen at home and I reckon we did a pretty good job. While we did not quite achieve the juxtaposition of a crunchy outside versus the melt-in-your-mouth centre of the original eggplant dish, we definitely created something mouth watering and worthy of being sold in a takeaway restaurant. I am dying to share this recipe with you guys!!
Secondly, I am in somewhat of a dilemma over cauliflower rice. What do you guys think? I feel as though cauliflower has been adopted as the new blue-eyed baby of the fitness world but I genuinely cannot get on this bandwagon. I want to like it so badly that I keep trying it in an attempt to persuade myself that it is delicious. I haven’t quite got there yet. I will admit that this dish would be amazing with brown rice and that is where I am at with that. Nevertheless, the cauliflower rice is an excellent paleo/gluten-free/low-GI way of making this dish and enjoying all elements of the meal. There is crunch from the rice and sesame seeds, there is good ol’ greenery from the “zoodles” (my new favourite thing – I know, bit late on the bandwagon!), some salty-sweetness from the eggplant, freshness from the crisp spring onion topping, as well as some creamy element from the sauce. Although the pictures show a satay sauce paired with the dish, I am of the mind that a tahini dressing would go down a treat too…maybe even just a glug of sweet chilli sauce would do the trick too!
Anyway, I will stop teasing you with all of these visuals and adjectives give you the recipe already!
INGREDIENTS
Serves 2-3
THE EGGPLANT
- 2 medium eggplants
- 1/4 cup salt
- 1/4 cup cornflour
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1/2 cup reduced salt soy sauce
- 1/2 onion, sliced
- 1 tsp coconut sugar
- 1-2 tbsp Maple syrup/sweet chilli sauce
- 1 tbsp sweet soy sauce
- 1/2 cup coconut oil, for frying
- Sesame oil, for frying
- 1/2 tsp Chilli flakes
- 1 tbsp Cornflour (+water — to paste/slurry)
- Water (to desired consistency)
- Pepper to taste
THE CAULIFLOWER RICE & Zoodles
- 1/2 cauliflower
- 1 tsp chilli flakes
- 1 tsp curry powder
- Salt and pepper to taste
- Sesame oil, for frying
- 2 zucchinis, spiralised
- Sesame seeds, toasted
- Spring onions, for garnish.
METHOD
- First, cut the eggplants into 1-inch cubes and place in a large metal bowl. Then coat the eggplant in salt and leave until at least 1/2 cup liquid has formed at the bottom of the bowl. Drain the liquid from the bowl and add the cornflour to the eggplant, covering all pieces evenly.
- Meanwhile, blend the cauliflower florets in a blender until finely chopped. Place in a separate bowl and season with the spices and salt and pepper to taste. Leave aside for frying at the last minute.
- To make the sauce for the eggplant, add sesame oil to a heated pan and add the onions and garlic to fry until softened and fragrant. Follow by adding the soy sauce, coconut sugar and sweet chilli (or maple syrup if using).
- Make a slurry or paste with the cornflour and some water. Continue to simmer the soy mixture as you add the cornflour paste to the pot. This will help the sauce to thicken, so reduce to a low heat and allow the sauce to thicken until it covers the back of a wooden spoon. You can also add your chilli flakes and any other seasoning at this point.
- Once thickened, put the sauce aside. Heat a new pan and add the coconut oil until melted. Once the oil is simmering, add the pieces of eggplant approximately 5-8 at a time, depending on the size of your pot. Allow to fry in the oil until browned on all sides. Approximately 5 minutes.
- Once all pieces are fried, add them to the sauce and re-heat the mixture until all pieces are well covered in the soy sauce.
- At this point, heat oil in a pan and add the zoodles and a minced garlic clove to a large frying pan. Allow the zoodles to soften before you remove them from the pan. Add some extra chilli flakes at this point too. Finally, place the cauliflower rice in the same pan and fry up until some of the moisture has been removed.
- PLATING UP AND EATING.
Now, this recipe is obviously something I will spend the rest of my days trying to perfect. The likely story is that the original recipe has a lot more sugar and unhealthy additives than this recipe in order to get such a gloopy, caramelised and melt-in-your-mouth texture for the eggplant. Either way, this is a great attempt and would make an amazing side dish or poké bowl component on its own alongside some tofu, rice and fresh slaw. The opportunities are endless! I have provided you with the fuel, now it is your turn to take this recipe and alter it as you see fit.
Little City Window 