I love those mid-week dinners which are disproportionately tasty relative to how easy they are to make. This dish absolutely fits that bill, and is a great one for batch cooking. An accidentally vegan wonder, I'm pleased with how this came out and hope that it will make its way onto your weekly/monthly rotation. Here's the recipe:
Ingredients (Serves 2):
2 aubergines
1 white onion
2 tbsp dark soy sauce
2 tbsp light soy sauce
1 tbsp rice wine
2 tsp rice wine vinegar
2 tsp szechuan peppercorns
Small knob ginger
2 cloves garlic
1 tsp sugar
3 tsp Cornflour
Small handful of peanuts
1 red chilli
10g coriander
2 spring onions
1 tbsp Chilli oil
1 lime
Method:
Chop the aubergine into inch cubes. Add to a colander/sieve, sprinkle over salt and leave to drain for 15 mins. Squeeze the pieces to remove excess liquid, then wash with water and set aside.
Slice the onion thinly. Add it to a pan on a medium heat with some neutral oil. Once softened, add the aubergine. Cook until browned and softened.
While the aubergine is cooking, finely slice the garlic and crush the Szechuan peppercorns. Add to the pan and cook for 60 secs until fragrant. Add all the liquid ingredients (soy sauces, rice wine, vinegar) and sugar and bring to the boil.
In the meantime, mix the cornflour with 50ml water in a cup until a slurry is formed. Add the slurry to the pan, bit by bit, until the desired consistency/thickness is reached.
Prepare your garnishes - peel and slice the ginger into thin matchsticks. De-seed and slice the chilli into thin matchsticks. Roughly chop the coriander and peanuts, and slice the spring onions. Set all of them aside.
Taste and season your aubergine mixture, adding more of any of the liquid ingredients as desired. Top with your garnishes, a spoonful of chilli oil, and serve with jasmine rice, steamed veg (broccoli, asparagus or Pak Choi are nice) and lime.
Drop me a message on Instagram (@OTCooks_Eats) if you do make this one - a great speedy veggie number for ya sens. OT x