Ixta Belfrage’s vegan recipe for sticky rice-stuffed aubergines with spring onion salad

Today’s recipe is loosely impressed by lo mai gai, a Cantonese dish of sticky rice with rooster that additionally usually options dried mushrooms, Chinese language sausage and dried prawns. On this model, aubergines are halved and roasted, then the flesh is added to a candy, savoury and barely spicy mixture of sticky rice, dried mushrooms, chestnuts, ginger and chives. The rice is then stuffed again into aubergine skins and baked till it’s deliciously sticky on the within and crisp on the surface. Extremely flavourful and, dare I say, meaty, this dish is properly well worth the effort, I promise.

Sticky rice-stuffed aubergines

I take advantage of Thai Style sticky rice, which wants solely two hours of pre-soaking to be able to cook dinner by contained in the aubergines. You probably have one other model, examine the packet, as a result of the rice might properly want an in a single day soak.

Prep 15 min
Soak 2 hr+
Cook dinner 2 hr
Serves 4

4 medium aubergines (about 250g every), reduce in half lengthways
10 tbsp olive oil
Effective salt and black pepper
Chiu chow oil
, or crispy chilli oil, to complete
1 lime, reduce into wedges, to serve

For the rice combine
400g Thai sticky rice (aka glutinous rice) – I take advantage of Thai Style
30g dried wild mushrooms
120g ready-cooked and peeled chestnuts
, finely chopped
15g contemporary ginger, peeled and finely grated
20g chives, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, peeled and finely grated or crushed
3½ tbsp maple syrup
4 tbsp soy sauce
20g sriracha
, or much less, to style

For the spring onion salad
20g spring onions, julienned
½ cucumber, halved lengthways, deseeded and finely sliced at an angle
10g coriander leaves
1 contemporary jalapeño chilli, sliced into skinny rounds (non-compulsory)
1 tbsp lime juice

Warmth the oven to 240C (220C fan)/475F/gasoline 9. Put the rice in a bowl, add chilly water to cowl, then depart to soak for 2 hours, or in a single day (see recipe introduction).

Minimize cross-hatches into the flesh of every aubergine half, slicing about three-quarters of the best way down into the flesh, taking care to not puncture the pores and skin and leaving a ½cm border across the edges. Lay the aubergines reduce facet up on a big, flat baking tray.

In a small bowl, combine 4 tablespoons of the olive oil and a teaspoon of tremendous salt, then rub this combine all around the reduce sides of the aubergines. Bake within the scorching oven for 35-40 minutes, turning the tray as soon as midway, till very properly browned, then take away and depart to chill.

Whereas the aubergines are baking, put the dried mushrooms in a small bowl, cowl with just-boiled water and depart to soak for quarter-hour.

Flip down the oven to 210C (190C fan)/410F/gasoline 6½. In a medium bowl, mix the chestnuts, ginger, chives, garlic, remaining six tablespoons of olive oil, maple syrup, soy sauce, sriracha, a teaspoon of tremendous salt and heaps of pepper – I used about 30 twists of the grinder. Drain and finely chop the mushrooms, then add them to the chestnut bowl. Scoop the flesh from the cooked aubergines into the bowl, taking care to not tear the skins.

Drain the soaked rice, add that to the bowl, too, then combine properly to mix.

Lay the scooped-out aubergine skins in a 33cm x 26cm high-sided baking tray. Fill every half with an eighth of the rice combine, then drizzle a tablespoon of water evenly over every one. Drizzle with somewhat extra olive oil, cowl very tightly with foil, so no steam can escape, and bake for an hour. Take away the foil, bake uncovered for 5 minutes extra, then take away and depart to relaxation and funky for 10 minutes.

In the meantime, make the salad: in a small bowl, combine the spring onions, cucumber, coriander, jalapeño, lime juice and an excellent pinch of salt. Switch the aubergines to a platter or particular person plates, prime with some salad, then drizzle over some chilli oil to style and serve with lime wedges on the facet.

Ixta Belfrage’s debut solo cookbook, Mezcla: Recipes to Excite, is printed by Ebury in summer season 2022. Meera Sodha is away.

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