Ingredients
84 calories per main portion, plus rice. Serves 6-8 as a side dish.
- 3 medium eggplants (aubergines), (650-700g)
- 1 tsp oil, (neutral tasting, to suit your diet)
- 1.5 tbsp chilli bean paste (Szechuan), (not generally gluten free, see tips below for substitutes)
- 5 cm ginger root, peeled and grated/crushed
- 5 cloves garlic, peeled and crushed
- 150 g light vegetable or chicken stock, (150ml)
- 1 tsp sugar, (or substitute raw honey)
- 1 tablespoon light soy sauce, (substitute tamari for gluten free)
- 1 tsp potato flour (or cornflour/cornstarch), - optional, mixed with 1 tablespoon water
- 1/2 tablespoon Chinkiang / Chinese black vinegar, (substitute balsamic vinegar for gluten free)
- 4 spring onions, finely sliced on the diagonal
- 1 tsp toasted sesame oil
- 400 g rice, (or less, or substitute cauliflower rice)
Accessories you need
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Varoma -
Simmering basket -
Spatula TM5/TM6
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I'm cooking this todayRecipe's preparation
For the aubergines: cut the top off, quarter them lengthwise, then cut into slices approximately 1cm thick. Arrange in the Varoma steamer randomly, with plenty of space in between for the steam to get through, and sprinkle over a pinch of salt.
Add one litre of water to the bowl, and if cooking with rice, also add 1 tsp seasalt to the bowl, put in the internal steaming basket, and then weigh in up to 400g (white) rice (brown rice takes longer, around 35-40 minutes). Rinse the rice 5 seconds / speed 5.
Put the lid on, leave the MC off, and put the Varoma on top, with the Varoma lid on. Then cook for 20 minutes/Varoma/Speed 2 1/2, until tender (if you find they've cooked slightly unevenly, don't worry as you'll be cooking them through a little more in a wok in the sauce).
Keeping the rice warm, take a good, non-stick wok and make sure you have some recently boiled water to hand, in case you need to add it near the end. Put over a medium high heat, add the oil, and then add the chilli bean paste (or chopped fresh or salted chillies) and cook for about 15 to 20 seconds to release the flavour into the oil, then add the ginger and garlic and cook for another 20 to 30 seconds until fragrant, being careful nothing catches or burns. Add the stock, sugar and soy sauce and give a quick stir, then add the cooked aubergine slices and simmer for about five minutes or so (or until cooked through to your liking), to allow them to absorb the flavours (and if you've steamed them, any of the less cooked slices to cook through).
From this point, if the liquid seems to be evaporating to quickly at any time, add a little more hot water from the kettle. Stir in the potato/cornflour mixture along with the vinegar, and incorporate thoroughly, turning or tossing until the sauce thickens. You will only have a small amount of sauce (you can make this without adding the starch too if you like, as the aubergines will absorb most of the liquid). Add the majority of the sliced spring onions, and toss through for a minute, then finally stir in the toasted sesame oil, taste for seasoning (add a dash more soy, or pinch of salt, if you think it needs it) and serve, scattered with the remaining spring onions.
The next day... You could make a quick noodle dish, by adding this to some cooked noodles (or zero noodles), and stir-fried poultry or meat (e.g. thinly sliced chicken, beef or pork, or some mince - I used vegetarian mince). To serve two people, I cooked two servings of noodles (per pack) and meanwhile I quickly stir-fried about a cup full of (Quorn) mince with a splash of soy, added one portion of sea-spiced aubergines to heat through, then added the cooked, drained noodles and a large handful of bean sprouts, and stir-fried for another minute or two, with extra soy and sesame oil to taste, for a really quick and easy meal.
Method
Tip
Re. chilli bean paste (the Sichuan variety)...
Chilli bean paste is not generally gluten free as it contains wheat. ('Yeo' make hot bean sauce which is gluten free - and there are other alternatives.)
Some large supermarkets will sell (general) chilli bean paste in the world food aisle, such as Lee Kum Kee Chilli Bean Sauce, and you will certainly find it at oriental stores. I can't tell you the name of the brand I use, as it's in Chinese characters!
Substitutions: for gluten free, or if you can't get hold of any, substitute salted chillies such as on my Forking Foodie blog, for some savoury heat, or a couple of chopped fresh chillies and a little (extra) tamari soy sauce (or you could add a tbsp crushed yellow bean paste [which contains wheat] for the fermented bean flavour, if you're not looking to make it gluten free).
Thermomix Model
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Recipe is created forTM 31
This recipe was provided to you by a Thermomix ® customer and has not been tested by Vorwerk Thermomix ® or The Mix Australia Pty Ltd and The Mix New Zealand Ltd.
Vorwerk Thermomix ® and The Mix Australia Pty Ltd and The Mix New Zealand Ltd assume no liability, particularly in terms of ingredient quantities used and success of the recipes.
Please observe the safety instructions in the Thermomix ® instruction manual at all times.
Comments
This is my 1st comment after playing with the Thermomix on 4 or 5 occassions.
Thanks for the recipe.
I loved this recipe because I had all the staples in the panty and while the eggplant was steaming I had enough time to prepare the rest. I used less eggplant but as we like sauce there was no need to dd additional water.
It was served with Butter Chicken and Vegetarian Biriani. It was all about flavour and everyone wanted more.
I hope one day to be able to purchase one recipe at a time (eg loads of flavour - Asian, Indian, Mediterranean, low carb, no sugar, fish, chicken and vegetarian options) and be able to upload it to my own chip.
I look forward to spending more time getting to know and experiment with my new toy.
That was soooooo good! I had a can of Mexican bean and corn salsa so I grinded that up with the garlic and ginger as well as a teaspoon of hot chilli flakes grinded up too. Probably not quite the same as yours but hit the spot. Didn't need to add extra water or add the corn flour/balsamic paste. Did add the chopped shallots though, to taste. Very very nice and I think this could become good comfort food on a cold winter'S day.
Thank you so much for sharing!
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