CHARGRILLED JAPANESE EGGPLANT WITH DAIKON

COMPLIMENTARY RECIPE

“Eggplant is possibly my favourite fruit/vegetable. If it's on the menu I order it. This is a fresh and lively tasting recipe. There is so much going on with every bite - sweet, savoury with a good hint of lime and chilli.” - Chef Mark Jensen

SERVES 6, as a side dish

INGREDIENTS
½ daikon
2 teaspoons salt
1 tablespoon sugar
100 ml peanut oil, plus extra for brushing
1 small onion, finely sliced
6 small Japanese eggplants
60 g crushed, roasted peanut
2 spring onions, finely sliced on the diagonal
1 large handful of coriander leaves
2 bird’s eye chillies, finely sliced
Vietnamese salad dressing (recipe below)

METHOD

Peel and grate the daikon on the coarse side of a vegetable grater. This should yield about 140 g of grated daikon. Put in a bowl with the salt and sugar and mix well. Set aside for 30 minutes, then squeeze and discard the juice from the daikon, reserving the flesh.

Pour the peanut oil into a heavy based saucepan and heat to 180°C, or until a cube of bread dropped into the oil turns golden brown in 15 seconds. Fry the onion in two batches, stirring occasionally to prevent it from sticking together, until it is crisp and golden brown. Remove the onion from the oil and drain on paper towel.

Heat a chargrill pan over medium heat until hot. Halve the eggplant lengthways and brush liberally with the extra peanut oil. Chargrill for about 3 minutes each side, or until the flesh is soft (be careful not to burn the skin). Arrange the eggplant halves on a platter and top with the daikon, fried onion, peanuts, spring onion, coriander and chillies. Dress with the Vietnamese salad dressing. Serve hot or cold.

VIETNAMESE SALAD DRESSING
Makes 240 ml

6 cm piece of lemongrass, white part only, finely sliced
125 ml pineapple juice
2 tablespoons light soy sauce
1 tablespoon rice vinegar
1 tablespoon caster sugar
1 tablespoon chilli oil
2 teaspoons minced pickled red chilli

To make the dressing, put the lemongrass in a mortar and pestle and pound to form a smooth paste. Place into a small saucepan along with the pineapple juice, soy sauce, vinegar and sugar. Bring to the boil, then remove the pan from the heat. Stir through the chilli oil and pickled chilli and allow it to cool. The salad dressing can be kept for up to 4 days in the fridge.