GLUTEN-FREE EGGPLANT CONFETTI
This dish of pan-fried eggplant is marinated in soy and sweet vinegar and scattered with a selection of little flavour hits. It’s the bits that make the party but the eggplant that provides the tender heart.
Easy to put together at the last minute, Eggplant Confetti makes a lovely light entrée or side to an Asian-oriented main.
The dried bonito flakes (katsuobushi) taste surprisingly like bacon, a little miracle in itself, which I’ve also tried as a substitute.
This led me to think that the toppings are readily adaptable to availability and taste. So please feel free to scatter the marinated eggplant with your own confetti mix.
It's sure to be good.
Jan
EGGPLANT & CONFETTI
Serves 6 as an entree
3 eggplant, around 400gm each
Sea salt
125 ml gluten-free light soy sauce
125 ml rice vinegar
2 tablespoons sugar
160 ml peanut or grapeseed oil
1 tablespoon each black and white sesame seeds
3 radishes, thinly sliced
80 gm Persian feta, removed from oil, roughly broken up
1 sheet nori, toasted and cut into slivers
1 tablespoon katsuobushi (dried bonito flakes)
Handful of small shiso leaves or snipped chives
Cut eggplant lengthwise into 2.5cm thick slices. Cut again into long sticks or wedges. Sprinkle with salt and sweat in a colander for 15 minutes.
Meanwhile heat soy sauce, vinegar and sugar in a small saucepan, stirring until sugar dissolves. Set aside.
Heat a small dry frypan and add sesame seeds, moving them briskly until the white seeds have turned golden. Remove from pan and set aside to cool.
Dry the eggplant with paper towel, removing salt in the process. Heat half the peanut oil in a large frypan and shallow fry eggplant pieces in batches, turning to cook on each side until crisp and golden, about 8 minutes. Add further oil as necessary.
Transfer eggplant to a dish and pour over the soy marinade. Allow to steep for an hour or so at room temperature, turning occasionally.
To serve, remove eggplant from marinade and arrange on a serving platter or 6 individual plates.
Scatter with radish slices, sesame seeds and Persian feta. Add cuttings of nori, shiso leaves or chives, and a sprinkle of dried bonito flakes.
The flavours make a marriage on the plate.
(Recipe adapted from Monster Kitchen and Bar, Canberra.)