Today's dish has a hint of sweetness, I find it well balanced considering the sourness of the cucumber salad and the saltiness/savoryness of the regular soy sauce, miso and peanut butter.
But for the umami junkies out there, use a little less sweet soy sauce with its molasses-like consistency and flavor to marinate the aubergine slices or skip it altogether.
Serves 2
Cooking time: 55 minutes
Coconut Rice
- 100 g jasmine rice
- 1 stalk lemongrass
- 75 ml unsweetened coconut milk
- 120 ml water
- 3 kaffir lime leaves
- 1 laurel leaf
- ½ t sea salt
- ½ t turmeric
Rinse the rice till starch is removed and the water becomes clear.
From the lemongrass cut the root knob, crush with the side of your knife and cut into big pieces so that you can take it easily out of the pot afterwards.
I prefer to use the soft core, so I cut off the upper green part, bisect the stalk, remove the outer stringy leaves and chop the soft part which can be left in the pot.
Put the rice, lemongrass and rest of the ingredients in a pot.
Bring to a simmer on medium and cover. Cook for 15 minutes, then turn off the heat and keep covered for 10 minutes for the flavors to infuse.
Peanut Sauce
- 10 g parsley
- ½ small tomato
- 40 g peanut butter
- 3 T warm water
- ½ T soy sauce
- ½ T freshly squeezed lime juice
- Pinch of sea salt
Put all the ingredients in a high performance blender.
Blend til you get a smooth sauce and set aside.
Cucumber Salad
- ½ cucumber
- 1 t white miso paste
- 1 T white balsamic vinegar
- 30 ml peanut oil
Cut of the end of the cucumber and finely slice lengthways with a mandoline.
Whisk miso, vinegar and oil in a bowl, then add the cucumber stripes and stir until well dressed. Set aside.
Chili Sauce
- 1 clove garlic
- ½ t chili paste
- 1 T sweet soy sauce
- 1.5 T peanut oil
Whisk together garlic, chilli sauce and sweet soy sauce., then stir in the oil little by little to emulsify.
Fried Aubergine
- ½ aubergine
- Grapeseed oil
- 10 g cornstarch
- ½ t sea salt
- ½ t paprika powder
Trim the ends of the aubergine and cut lengthwise into ½ cm slices. Take the four bigest ones.
In a bowl combine starch, salt and paprika and coat the aubergine slices.
Heat a film of grapeseed oil in a pan on medium, then add the aubergine and fry until golden brown on both sides for 5 minutes total.
Put on paper towels and let drain.
Pour the chili sauce on a plate and oil the aubergine slices in it.
Serve
- parsley
Put 2 aubergine escalopes on each plate, pour some peanut sauce along, top with rice and cucumber salad and garnish with some parsley.
Bon appétit,
Miron
Addendum
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