Today’s recipe is loosely impressed by lo mai gai, a Cantonese dish of sticky rice with rooster that also often attributes dried mushrooms, Chinese sausage and dried prawns. In this model, aubergines are halved and roasted, then the flesh is extra to a sweet, savoury and a little spicy combine of sticky rice, dried mushrooms, chestnuts, ginger and chives. The rice is then stuffed again into aubergine skins and baked until eventually it is deliciously sticky on the inside and crisp on the outdoors. Extremely flavourful and, dare I say, meaty, this dish is properly worth the effort, I assure.
Sticky rice-stuffed aubergines
I use Thai Style sticky rice, which requirements only two several hours of pre-soaking in get to cook dinner through within the aubergines. If you have one more brand, look at the packet, for the reason that the rice might properly want an overnight soak.
Prep 15 min
Soak 2 hr+
Prepare dinner 2 hr
Serves 4
4 medium aubergines (about 250g every single), slice in fifty percent lengthways
10 tbsp olive oil
Fine salt and black pepper
Chiu chow oil, or crispy chilli oil, to end
1 lime, reduce into wedges, to provide
For the rice blend
400g Thai sticky rice (aka glutinous rice) – I use Thai Flavor
30g dried wild mushrooms
120g completely 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 refreshing jalapeño chilli, sliced into thin rounds (optional)
1 tbsp lime juice
Heat the oven to 240C (220C fan)/475F/gasoline 9. Set the rice in a bowl, include cold water to address, then go away to soak for two hours, or overnight (see recipe introduction).
Slice cross-hatches into the flesh of each and every aubergine 50 %, chopping about 3-quarters of the way down into the flesh, getting care not to puncture the skin and leaving a ½cm border close to the edges. Lay the aubergines reduce aspect up on a big, flat baking tray.
In a little bowl, blend four tablespoons of the olive oil and a teaspoon of fine salt, then rub this blend all about the lower sides of the aubergines. Bake in the very hot oven for 35-40 minutes, turning the tray as soon as halfway, until eventually incredibly perfectly browned, then take out and leave to cool.
While the aubergines are baking, put the dried mushrooms in a tiny bowl, cover with just-boiled water and go away to soak for 15 minutes.
Change down the oven to 210C (190C admirer)/410F/fuel 6½. In a medium bowl, mix the chestnuts, ginger, chives, garlic, remaining 6 tablespoons of olive oil, maple syrup, soy sauce, sriracha, a teaspoon of fantastic salt and tons of pepper – I utilised about 30 twists of the grinder. Drain and finely chop the mushrooms, then incorporate them to the chestnut bowl. Scoop the flesh from the cooked aubergines into the bowl, using care not to tear the skins.
Drain the soaked rice, include that to the bowl, much too, then mix effectively to mix.
Lay the scooped-out aubergine skins in a 33cm x 26cm large-sided baking tray. Fill just about every 50 percent with an eighth of the rice combine, then drizzle a tablespoon of water evenly about just about every a single. Drizzle with a very little more olive oil, cover really tightly with foil, so no steam can escape, and bake for an hour. Get rid of the foil, bake uncovered for five minutes much more, then remove and go away to rest and awesome for 10 minutes.
In the meantime, make the salad: in a tiny bowl, mix the spring onions, cucumber, coriander, jalapeño, lime juice and a good pinch of salt. Transfer the aubergines to a platter or unique plates, best with some salad, then drizzle about some chilli oil to flavor and provide with lime wedges on the aspect.