PORK WITH GINGER, SPRING ONION AND AUBERGINE
Why this one?
Previously I've done a similar pork dish so when I saw this one I thought I would give it ago. I must confess that I didn't read that the pork would be served on a bed of aubergine rather than rice. When I eventually noticed I was a bit disappointed and tried to back track on the dinner plans but it was late in the day, we were both hungry and we had all the ingredients and I HATE food waste so I decided to carry on, thinking if it was rubbish we'd order a pizza.
Find the recipe here... https://www.delicious.com.au/recipes/pork-ginger-spring-onion-eggplant/9xuacf6h
Any substitutes?
I used squeezy ginger (one of my fave cheats) because honestly who has the time or inclination to peel and then julienne a piece of ginger.
The actual cooking of the dish
"Cut the aubergine's into 3cm cubes", my husbands comment to this, "I don't think chef's have any concept on measurement - these are huge". After umming and arring about the size of the aubergines we settled on following the recipe. They were then steamed in a colander covered in foil set over a pan with 3cm (!!!) of water.
I then lined up 5 different bottles of liquids ranging from Ketjap to Mirin - not things that everyone is going to have in their cupboard but luckily we did.
The next stage was very simple, cook the spring onions, garlic, chilli and ginger - set aside. Then cook the mince and add the plethora of sauces, mix all together and ta dah it's done!
Sorry not story of pigeons of unstoppable fire alarms today - a calm easy cook during which I managed to drink 2 glasses of wine, how wonderful.
What I thought
As I mentioned in the intro I had low expectations, they were not raised when I saw the beige, sorry looking steamed aubergines. But this Ottolenghi guy knows what he is doing. The watery, mild, super soft texture of the aubergines was the perfect balance for the sweet, salty and sticky mince. The watery purple beauties mellowing the salt from the soy sauce.
Each mouthful of the meat left a deliciously greasy feeling on the lips, the sweetness of the spring onions a perfect accompaniment and the crunch from the peanuts working in harmony. With each taste there was a freshness from the coriander, a sugary-ness from the Ketjap. My only comment would be the visually unappealing aubergines and some of the spring onions became a bit chewy and stringy.
Difficulty: Easy
Tastiness rating: 9/10
Next time I'd.... do half steamed aubergines and half rice as the accompaniment.
Why this one?
Previously I've done a similar pork dish so when I saw this one I thought I would give it ago. I must confess that I didn't read that the pork would be served on a bed of aubergine rather than rice. When I eventually noticed I was a bit disappointed and tried to back track on the dinner plans but it was late in the day, we were both hungry and we had all the ingredients and I HATE food waste so I decided to carry on, thinking if it was rubbish we'd order a pizza.
Find the recipe here... https://www.delicious.com.au/recipes/pork-ginger-spring-onion-eggplant/9xuacf6h
Any substitutes?
I used squeezy ginger (one of my fave cheats) because honestly who has the time or inclination to peel and then julienne a piece of ginger.
The actual cooking of the dish
"Cut the aubergine's into 3cm cubes", my husbands comment to this, "I don't think chef's have any concept on measurement - these are huge". After umming and arring about the size of the aubergines we settled on following the recipe. They were then steamed in a colander covered in foil set over a pan with 3cm (!!!) of water.
I then lined up 5 different bottles of liquids ranging from Ketjap to Mirin - not things that everyone is going to have in their cupboard but luckily we did.
The next stage was very simple, cook the spring onions, garlic, chilli and ginger - set aside. Then cook the mince and add the plethora of sauces, mix all together and ta dah it's done!
Sorry not story of pigeons of unstoppable fire alarms today - a calm easy cook during which I managed to drink 2 glasses of wine, how wonderful.
What I thought
As I mentioned in the intro I had low expectations, they were not raised when I saw the beige, sorry looking steamed aubergines. But this Ottolenghi guy knows what he is doing. The watery, mild, super soft texture of the aubergines was the perfect balance for the sweet, salty and sticky mince. The watery purple beauties mellowing the salt from the soy sauce.
Each mouthful of the meat left a deliciously greasy feeling on the lips, the sweetness of the spring onions a perfect accompaniment and the crunch from the peanuts working in harmony. With each taste there was a freshness from the coriander, a sugary-ness from the Ketjap. My only comment would be the visually unappealing aubergines and some of the spring onions became a bit chewy and stringy.
Difficulty: Easy
Tastiness rating: 9/10
Next time I'd.... do half steamed aubergines and half rice as the accompaniment.
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