Red Curry Satay Sauce

Date Published: August 27th, 2020 | Last Updated: August 27th, 2020
Author: Abby |Category: sauces, dips, Asian
Serves: roughly 1 cup | Prep time: 5 mins | Cook time: 5 mins

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There are few things in the world better than a good creamy peanut satay sauce and when you pair it with coconut milk and red curry paste? Ohhhh boy. Get your tastebuds ready for a flavour explosion! This recipe uses the homemade red curry chilli paste recipe for a bold and fresh flavour. Depending on how much you make your curry paste, this satay sauce can add a kick! Use the leftovers mixed with cold noodles for a quick lunch or save it for a dip with spring rolls or prawn toast. You’re only 5 minutes away from making this delicious red curry satay sauce!

Recipe adapted from Recipe Tin Eats.

Anyways, without further ado, here’s the recipe! If you have any comments or suggestions, I’d love to hear from you in the comment section! You can follow me on instagram, youtube and facebook to see all the recipes I post!

Happy cooking!

Ingredients you’ll need:

330ml coconut milk
3/4 cup (185ml) water
2 Tbsps homemade red curry paste
3/4 cup (180g) peanut butter, smooth or crunchy
1/4 cup + 2 tsps white sugar
2 Tbsps apple cider vinegar
2 tsps dark soy sauce
2 tsps fish sauce
1 tsp salt

Directions:

In a saucepan on LOW-MED heat, add in all of the ingredients and stir. Simmer the sauce for 5 minutes for the flavours to infuse. Taste and adjust flavours as needed. Done! Easy, huh?

If the sauce is too thick for you, add in a little bit of water until you reach your desired consistency.

Summarized Recipe:

Red Curry Satay Sauce

Ingredients:

330ml coconut milk
3/4 cup (185ml) water
2 Tbsps homemade red curry paste
3/4 cup (180g) peanut butter, smooth or crunchy
1/4 cup + 2 tsps white sugar
2 Tbsps apple cider vinegar
2 tsps dark soy sauce
2 tsps fish sauce
1 tsp salt

Directions:

In a saucepan on LOW-MED heat, add in all of the ingredients and stir. Simmer the sauce for 5 minutes for the flavours to infuse. Taste and adjust flavours as needed. Done!

Note: If the sauce is too thick for you, add in a little bit of water until you reach your desired consistency.

August 27, 2020August 27, 2020

Abby1 Comment

Green Curry Prawn Toast

Date Published: August 27th, 2020 | Last Updated: August 27th, 2020
Author: Abby |Category: snacks, easy, appetizer, Asian
Serves: 4 | Prep time: 5 mins | Cook time: 5 mins

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I’ve surprisingly never had prawn toast until recently. I saw a couple recipes from the new cookbooks of my favourite Masterchef contestants, Sarah Tiong and Kanh Ong and decided to give them a try. This recipe is an adaptation from Kanh’s green curry prawn toast recipe and uses the homemade Thai green curry paste. Although I’m not sure what real prawn toast is supposed to taste like since I’ve never had one from a restaurant before, but Toby and his family tells me they used to have it all the time at their old go-to Chinese restaurant and this version is much better! These prawn toasts don’t taste quite like a Thai green curry because there’s no coconut milk, but they do have the beautiful aromatics from the homemade green curry paste that really shine through with every bite. It’s even better when paired with a mayo-based dipping sauce such as curry mayo or sriracha mayo.

As long as you’ve got the curry paste made up, this recipe is SO simple and comes together quickly. You will however need to deep-fry these. I don’t frequently like to deep-fry things at home, but when I do I like to make the best use of the oil by making multiple things with it before tossing it out such as pork and prawn spring rolls! You can also make a big batch beforehand and serve it as an appetizer or a snack for a party.

Happy cooking!

Ingredients you’ll need:

250g raw prawn meat
1 egg white
2 1/2 tsps sesame oil
1/4 cup homemade Thai green curry paste
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp ground white pepper
1 large clove of garlic
1 spring onion (optional)
4 slices of sourdough or regular white bread
Sesame seeds for dipping

Directions:

In a food processor, add the prawn meat, egg white, sesame oil, green curry paste, salt, white pepper, spring onion, and garlic. Pulse until you get a thick paste.

Divide and spread the paste equally on the 4 slices of sourdough. If the paste is runny, put it in the fridge for 20 mins to firm up.

Place sesame seeds on a plate and dip the bread (prawn side down) onto the sesame seeds.

Fill a saucepan 1/3 up with neutral oil and heat the oil until it reaches 180˚C (or when a cube of bread turns brown in 15 seconds). Place the prawn toast prawn side down (it might be easier to lower it prawn side up first then flip it around in the oil to minimize splashing) into the oil and fry for 2-4 minutes until golden then flip and fry for another 1-2 minutes. Remove from the oil and let it drain on a paper towel.

Serve! Ideally serve with curry mayo or sriracha mayo.

Summarized Recipe:

Green Curry Prawn Toast

Ingredients:

250g raw prawn meat
1 egg white
2 1/2 tsps sesame oil
1/4 cup homemade Thai green curry paste
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp ground white pepper
1 large clove of garlic
1 spring onion (optional)
4 slices of sourdough or regular white bread
Sesame seeds for dipping

Directions:

In a food processor, add the prawn meat, egg white, sesame oil, green curry paste, salt, white pepper, spring onion, and garlic. Pulse until you get a thick paste.
Divide and spread the paste equally on the 4 slices of sourdough. If the paste is runny, put it in the fridge for 20 mins to firm up.
Place sesame seeds on a plate and dip the bread (prawn side down) onto the sesame seeds.
Fill a saucepan 1/3 up with neutral oil and heat the oil until it reaches 180˚C (or when a cube of bread turns brown in 15 seconds). Place the prawn toast prawn side down (it might be easier to lower it prawn side up first then flip it around in the oil to minimize splashing) into the oil and fry for 2-4 minutes until golden then flip and fry for another 1-2 minutes. Remove from the oil and let it drain on a paper towel.
Serve! Ideally serve with curry mayo or sriracha mayo.

August 27, 2020August 27, 2020

AbbyLeave a comment

Tzatziki

Date Published: August 21st, 2020| Last Updated: August 21st, 2020
Author: Abby |Category: sauces/dips, easy
Serves: 1 cup | Prep time: 10 mins | Mix time: 30 secs + resting overnight

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Tzatziki tzatziki. It’s so simple and so good. My dill plants had been struggling on my balcony over the winter months so I wasn’t able to make this recipe for ages, but now that we’ve moved onto the farm with plenty of space and sunshine, the dill plant here has gone wild! This dip is so refreshing with the cucumber, lemon and dill. Our favourite way to eat this is slathered between two burger buns in a beef patty to make a quick Greek burger but its also fantastic on its own as a dip with bread or veggies.

This is a make-ahead recipe. It takes less than 10 minutes to whip up this recipe but the full potential of the flavours don’t come out until it’s refrigerated for at least 4 hours, ideally overnight. This dip needs time for the flavours to marinate and work themselves out. It sounds a bit crazy but trust me. The first time I made this dip I spent over 20 minutes adding a little more of this and that and it still never seemed quite right. I ended up putting it away and when I revisited it the next morning, it was AMAZING! I was surprised how everything just fixed itself overnight. Now when I make this sauce I don’t even bother with adjusting the flavours until the next day, after its had time to sort itself out.

Happy cooking!

Ingredients you’ll need:

1/4 (100g) of a continental cucumber
3/4 cup (184g) Greek yoghurt
1 small clove of garlic, minced
1/2 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1/2 tsp lemon zest
2 Tbsps fresh dill, chopped
1/2 tsp salt, or to taste
1 tsp freshly ground black pepper, or to taste
Splash of lemon juice (optional)

Directions:

Grate the cucumber (with the peel) and then wrap it up in a clean tea towel or a few layers of paper towel and squeeze out as much liquid as you can. You should end up with nearly half the weight of cucumber you started with.

The salt in the dip will draw out the water in the cucumber and result in a wet sloppy tzatziki which is why it’s so important to squeeze out as much water as you can at the start.

Mix the rest of the ingredients in a bowl. Refrigerate overnight, or a minimum of 4 hours. Trust me, the flavours are SO much better the next day once the ingredients have had time to marinate together. Taste and adjust ingredients as needed. Enjoy!

Summarized Recipe:

Tzatziki

Ingredients:

1/4 (100g) of a continental cucumber
3/4 cup (184g) Greek yoghurt
1 small clove of garlic, minced
1/2 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1/2 tsp lemon zest
2 Tbsps fresh dill, chopped
1/2 tsp salt, or to taste
1 tsp freshly ground black pepper, or to taste
Splash of lemon juice (optional)

Directions:

Grate the cucumber (with the peel) and then wrap it up in a clean tea towel or a few layers of paper towel and squeeze out as much liquid as you can. You should end up with nearly half the weight of cucumber you started with.
Mix the rest of the ingredients in a bowl. Refrigerate overnight, or a minimum of 4 hours. (Trust me, the flavours are SO much better the next day once the ingredients have had time to marinate together.) Taste and adjust ingredients as needed. Enjoy!

August 21, 2020August 21, 2020

Abby1 Comment

Classic Hummus

Date Published: August 21st, 2020 | Last Updated: August 21st, 2020
Author: Abby |Category: dips/sauces, snack
Serves: 1 large bowl | Prep time: 10 mins | Mix time: 1 minute

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A good classic hummus makes me so happy. Something about the classic flavours of the creamy tahini with cumin and chickpeas blended together with that kick of garlic makes it magical. There are so many variations out there these days but at the end of the day I always prefer the old-fashioned hummus and best of all it only takes 10 minutes to make! Don’t get me wrong, I love a good spin on a classic such as beetroot hummus or even roasted red pepper hummus, but the additional flavours distract from the true creaminess of a classic which is what makes it unbeatable. This smooth creamy dip is so so good as a dip with some crackers or veggies and even better smeared in a warm wrap! Try it with some leftover lamb roast in a homemade flatbread – I promise it’s phenomenal.

Happy cooking!

Ingredients you’ll need:

1 can (400g) of chickpeas
3/4 cup tahini
1/2 cup lemon juice
1/4 cup olive oil
4 cloves of garlic, peeled
1 Tbsp ground cumin
1 tsp salt (or more to taste)

Directions:

Drain the chickpeas and keep the liquid aside.

Put the drained chickpeas and the rest of the ingredients (tahini, lemon juice, olive oil, garlic, salt and cumin) into a food processor or blender and blend until thick and smooth. If the hummus is too thick, add in one tablespoon of the reserved chickpea fluid at a time and mix until desired consistency. Taste and adjust seasonings to your preference. Discard the rest of the chickpea liquid.

When serving, drizzle olive oil over the hummus and add a pinch of paprika for garnish.

Pair it with some pita chips made from the homemade flatbread recipe!

Notes:

To make this a low carb version, substitute the can of chickpeas with 4 cups zucchini, peeled & chopped.
You can try other combinations: beetroot, roasted red peppers and parmesan…etc.

To make a roasted red pepper hummus: roast 3 peppers over the grill or fire until charred. Set aside to cool and scrape off any excessively blackened bits. Place the peppers in a clean tea towel or paper towel and over a bowl, squeeze out any liquid. Save this liquid. Add the roasted red peppers to the hummus and blend until combined. If it’s too thick, then add in a teaspoon of the liquid from the peppers at a time until you reach the desired consistency. You can also add in the liquid from the drained chickpeas as well. Taste and adjust flavours as needed. You may need to add additional salt to the above hummus recipe since adding red peppers will dilute the saltiness of the hummus. Done!

To make a beetroot hummus: Drain a can of beetroots and reserve the liquid. Blend the beetroots into the hummus. Taste and adjust the amount of beetroot as needed.

Summarized Recipe:

Classic Hummus

Date Published: August 21st, 2020 | Last Updated: August 21st, 2020
Author: Abby |Category: dips/sauces, snack
Serves: 1 large bowl | Prep time: 5 mins | Mix time: 1 minute

Ingredients:

1 can (400g) of chickpeas
3/4 cup tahini
1/2 cup lemon juice
1/4 cup olive oil
4 cloves of garlic, peeled
1 Tbsp ground cumin
1 tsp salt (or more to taste)

Directions:

Drain the chickpeas and keep the liquid aside.
Put the drained chickpeas and the rest of the ingredients (tahini, lemon juice, olive oil, garlic, salt and cumin) into a food processor or blender and blend until thick and smooth. If the hummus is too thick, add in one tablespoon of the reserved chickpea fluid at a time and mix until desired consistency. Taste and adjust seasonings to your preference. Discard the rest of the chickpea liquid.
When serving, drizzle olive oil over the hummus and add a pinch of paprika for garnish. Done!

August 21, 2020September 6, 2020

Abby4 Comments

Brown Butter Thyme Mushrooms

Date Published: August 20th, 2020 | Last Updated: August 20th, 2020
Author: Abby |Category: sides, vegetarian
Serves: 4 (as sides) | Prep time: 2 mins | Cook time: 15 mins

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This super easy brown butter mushroom recipe was something I whipped up in the spur of the moment today when I was making a goat cheese stuffed chicken breast for lunch. I LOVE mushrooms and lucky for me I had some spare in the fridge as well as thyme in the garden. Something about thyme and mushrooms just makes a perfect combination and even better when cooked in a beautiful aromatic nutty brown butter. I’d recommend slicing them thick like the photos below for maximum absorption of the delicious brown butter!

Happy cooking!

Ingredients you’ll need:

70g unsalted butter
1 large clove garlic
2 sprigs fresh thyme
500g white button mushrooms, thickly sliced to 1.5cm width
Salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

In a large skillet on MEDIUM heat, brown the butter (I’ve written a tutorial here on how to brown butter).

When the butter is browned, quickly add in the garlic and thyme, sauté for about 15 seconds then add in mushrooms.

It’s important to lay the mushrooms in a single layer and not crowd them in the pan. You need space to let the liquids evaporate or else they’ll boil in their own juices and result in soggy mushrooms. If you don’t have a pan large enough to fit all the mushrooms, take out half of the brown butter/garlic/thyme from the pan and cook the mushrooms in batches.

The mushrooms will initially absorb all the brown butter and your pan will look dry but as it cooks it will start releasing a little liquid. Mushrooms are cooked when they’re brown and just start to release their own liquid. You can cook them longer if you prefer softer mushrooms.

When the mushrooms are cooked, turn the heat off and sprinkle black pepper and salt to taste. Done!

Note: Do not add salt before the mushrooms are done or else they’ll dehydrate the mushrooms and release liquid into the pan.

Summarized Recipe:

Brown Butter Thyme Mushrooms

Date Published: August 20th, 2020 | Last Updated: August 20th, 2020
Author: Abby |Category: sides, vegetarian
Serves: 4 (as sides) | Prep time: 2 mins | Cook time: 15 mins

Ingredients:

70g unsalted butter
1 large clove garlic
2 sprigs fresh thyme
500g white button mushrooms, thickly sliced to 1.5cm width
Salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

In a large skillet on MEDIUM heat, brown the butter (I’ve written a tutorial here on how to brown butter).
When the butter is browned, quickly add in the garlic and thyme, sauté for about 15 seconds then add in mushrooms. Do not crowd the pan. If your pan is too small, take out half of the brown butter/garlic/thyme and cook the mushroom in batches.
Mushrooms are cooked when they’re brown and just start to release their own liquid. You can cook them longer if you prefer softer mushrooms.
When the mushrooms are cooked, turn the heat off and sprinkle black pepper and salt to taste. Done!

August 20, 2020August 20, 2020

AbbyLeave a comment

Classic Greek Salad

Date Published: August 19th, 2020 | Last Updated: August 19th, 2020
Author: Abby |Category: salads, vegetarian, easy
Serves: 4 (as side servings) | Prep time: 20 mins | Mix time: 30 secs

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I love Greek salad. It’s so refreshing and easy to make, perfect for a hot summer’s day or paired with a delicious roast lamb. The dressing only takes 3 ingredients to make and the salad components are easily adjustable to whatever proportion you like. Toby’s not a big fan of olives so I tend to go easy on them when I’m making this salad but feel free to double or even triple the amount of any of the salad ingredients. This salad is healthy (if you don’t go crazy on the feta) and so delicious. If you’re making this ahead of time, I’d suggest holding off on the dressing until right before you serve it because the salt content from the dressing will draw out water from the veg and you’ll end up with a soggy salad.

Happy cooking!

Ingredients you’ll need:

Dressing:
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- 3 tsps lemon juice
- 1 tsp red wine vinegar
Salad:
- 2 cups cherry tomatoes, halved (or 3 large ripe tomatoes, chopped)
- 2 medium Lebanese cucumbers, chopped
- 1 small red onion, chopped or sliced
- 1 cup feta cheese, roughly chopped or crumbled
- 1 1/2 teaspoons dried oregano
- 15 black olives, pitted and sliced (or more to taste)
- salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

Make the dressing by whisking together the olive oil, lemon juice and red wine vinegar in a bowl. Set aside.

Assemble the salad by mixing the rest of the ingredients into a large bowl: tomatoes, cucumbers, red onion, feta, oregano, and olives.

Pour the dressing over the salad and toss. Salt and pepper to taste. Enjoy!

*Note: if you’re making this ahead of time, don’t add the dressing until you’re ready to serve, otherwise the salt content from the dressing will cause the veg in the salad to release their liquids and you’ll end up with a wet sloppy salad.

Summarized Recipe:

Classic Greek Salad

Date Published: August 19th, 2020 | Last Updated: August 19th, 2020
Author: Abby |Category: salads, vegetarian, easy, healthy
Serves: 4 (as side servings) | Prep time: 20 mins | Mix time: 30 secs

Ingredients:

Dressing:
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- 3 tsps lemon juice
- 1 tsp red wine vinegar
Salad:
- 2 cups cherry tomatoes, halved (or 3 large ripe tomatoes, chopped)
- 2 medium Lebanese cucumbers, chopped
- 1 small red onion, chopped or sliced
- 1 cup feta cheese, roughly chopped or crumbled
- 1 1/2 teaspoons dried oregano
- 15 black olives, pitted and sliced (or more to taste)
- salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

Make the dressing by whisking together the olive oil, lemon juice and red wine vinegar in a bowl. Set aside.
Assemble the salad by mixing the rest of the ingredients into a large bowl: tomatoes, cucumbers, red onion, feta, oregano, and olives.
Pour the dressing over the salad and toss. Salt and pepper to taste. Enjoy!
- *Note: if you’re making this ahead of time, don’t add the dressing until you’re ready to serve, otherwise the salt content from the dressing will cause the veg in the salad to release their liquids and you’ll end up with a wet sloppy salad.

August 19, 2020September 6, 2020

AbbyLeave a comment

Vietnamese Fish Sauce (Nuoc mam)

Date Published: August 19th, 2020 | Last Updated: August 19th, 2020
Author: Abby |Category: sauces, dips, asian
Serves: 1/2 cup | Prep time: 10 mins | Mix time: 30 seconds

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Nuoc mam is a staple in Vietnamese cuisine. You may also see it commonly referred to as “nuoc cham” in many restaurants. I’ve been told “nuoc cham” means ‘sauce’ in Vietnamese whereas “nuoc mam” is more specifically ‘fish sauce’ which would be more accurate in this case. Whichever name you call it, it is delicious. It’s a sauce made of sugar, garlic, lime, chillies, and fish sauce (shocker), giving it a salty, sweet, sour and a little spicy taste all in one sauce! It’s often used as a dipping sauce (think lemongrass pork, prawn spring rolls…mmmm) or as a dressing drizzled over a bowl of vermicelli with veg. If you’ve never had it before, it smells a little funky but adds SO much flavour to a dish. It’s so simple to make and because of the high acidity content of the ingredients, it keeps for a very long time in the fridge so you can make a buttload and always have some on hand for a quick meal.

Happy cooking!

Ingredients you’ll need:

3 Tbsps warm water
1 Tbsp caster sugar
1 Tbsp lime juice (~1 lime)
2 Tbsps fish sauce
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 bird’s eye chillies, finely chopped

Directions:

Dissolve the caster sugar in the warm water then add the rest of the ingredients to the bowl. Mix and taste. Adjust ingredients as needed. Done!

More sour = add more lime juice
More salty = add more fish sauce
More sweet = add more sugar
More spicy = more chillies

Summarized Recipe:

Vietnamese Fish Sauce (Nuoc mam)

Date Published: August 19th, 2020 | Last Updated: August 19th, 2020
Author: Abby |Category: sauces, dips, asian
Serves: 1/2 cup | Prep time: 10 mins | Mix time: 30 seconds

Ingredients:

3 Tbsps warm water
1 Tbsp caster sugar
1 Tbsp lime juice (~1 lime)
2 Tbsps fish sauce
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 bird’s eye chillies, finely chopped

Directions:

In a bowl, dissolve the sugar in the warm water.
Add the rest of the ingredients to the bowl and mix. Taste and adjust ingredients as needed. Done!

Feel free to make a buttload. It keeps really well.

August 19, 2020August 19, 2020

AbbyLeave a comment

Creamy Mint Yogurt Sauce

Date Published: August 19th, 2020 | Last Updated: August 19th, 2020
Author: Abby |Category: sauces/dips, easy
Serves: 1 cup | Prep time: 10 mins | Cook time: 30 secs

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Cool boy Sheldon helping out with harvesting mint from the garden

Lamb is a pretty popular meat in Australia and it’s commonly paired with a mint sauce/jelly. Toby and I made our first roast lamb a couple months ago and it was so delicious that we’ve made it 3 more times since (recipe here). The lamb we made had such beautiful strong flavours from the rub that I decided to make a more subtle mint sauce using Greek yogurt. The sauce was a big hit with the fam and I’m sharing it here with you today! There’s only a few ingredients required to make this creamy sauce. The mint flavour is more subtle compared to a traditional mint sauce but it works well with the lemon and garlic and the addition of cumin adds a little extra depth to compliment the lamb. You can also use this sauce as a dressing over a quick cucumber salad to have on its own or as a side with the lamb.

Happy cooking!

Ingredients you’ll need:

1 cup (245g) greek yogurt
1/2 cup mint leaves, chopped
1 large clove garlic, minced
1/2 Tbsp lemon juice
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp black pepper

Directions:

Mix all the ingredients in a bowl. Taste adjust lemon, salt or pepper as needed. Done!

Try it with the garlic rosemary lamb roast. Mmmmmm.

Summarized Recipe:

Creamy Mint Yogurt Sauce

Date Published: August 18th, 2020 | Last Updated: August 18th, 2020
Author: Abby |Category: sauces/dips, easy
Serves: 1 cup | Prep time: 10 mins | Cook time: 30 secs

Ingredients:

1 cup (245g) greek yogurt
1/2 cup mint leaves, chopped
1 large clove garlic, minced
1/2 Tbsp lemon juice
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp black pepper

Directions:

Mix all the ingredients in a bowl. Taste adjust lemon, salt or pepper as needed. Done!

August 19, 2020August 19, 2020

Abby1 Comment

Curry Mayo

Date Published: August 14th, 2020 | Last Updated: August 14th, 2020
Author: Abby |Category: sauces, dips, easy
Serves: 1 cup | Prep time: 30 secs | Cook time: 30 secs

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This is one of my favourite dips for anything deep fried: sweet potato fries, hashbrowns, potato cakes, fish and chips…the list goes on. It’s also fantastic in all kinds of mayo-based salads: potato salad, egg salad, tuna salad…YUM! I’m a firm believer that curry powder makes life better ❤️. This 30 second recipe is ridiculously simple. If you can scoop mayo out of a jar, you can make curry mayo!

Happy cooking!

Ingredients you’ll need:

1 cup mayonnaise
1 tsp curry powder

Directions:

Mix curry and mayo together. Taste and add more curry if you prefer if stronger. Done!

Summarized Recipe:

Curry Mayo

Date Published: August 14th, 2020 | Last Updated: August 14th, 2020
Author: Abby |Category: sauces, dips, easy
Serves: 1 cup | Prep time: 30 secs | Cook time: 30 secs

Ingredients:

1 cup mayonnaise
1 tsp curry powder

Directions:

Mix curry and mayo together. Taste and add more curry if you prefer if stronger. Done!

August 14, 2020August 14, 2020

Abby1 Comment

Sweet Chilli Eggplant

Date Published: August 12th, 2020 | Last Updated: August 12th, 2020
Author: Abby |Category: sides, asian, easy, quick, vegetarian
Serves: 4 | Prep time: 5 mins | Cook time: 10 mins

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Australians really like their sweet chilli sauce. I had no idea until I moved here nearly 6 years ago. It’s most commonly used as a dip for deep fried foods (especially with chicken salt potato wedges and sour cream – YUM) and it’s also widely available as a condiment in many takeaway shops. Sweet chilli sauce isn’t a very common ingredient in Chinese cuisine so I didn’t have much exposure to it growing up but since moving to Australia I’ve increased my sweet chilli intake by 200% 😅.

This recipe came from my good friend Anita. We had dinner at her place one day back in the vet school days and she wanted to recreate a dish she had at a restaurant with eggplant steaks. After a dash of this and that, she concocted a delicious sweet and savoury sauce that the eggplant steaks were bathed in. It was SO good. There wasn’t a written recipe since she didn’t measure anything (like a true OG Asian cook, eh?) so I’ve recreated it based on the ingredients she used and the result is bang on. I know the serving size says 4, but I could seriously eat a whole plate of this myself over a bowl of rice. I actually wasn’t a fan of eggplants until that day, surprisingly, and now I can’t get enough of it! I’m currently working on a few more eggplant recipes at the moment so keep an eye out!

Happy cooking!

Ingredients you’ll need:

Sauce:
- 1/4 cup sweet chilli sauce
- 1/4 cup Chinese cooking wine
- 2 Tbsps kecap manis (Indonesian sweet soy sauce)
- 1 Tbsp soy sauce
- 1 Tbsp black vinegar (I like the Chinkiang brand)
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
2 Tbsps neutral oil
2 medium eggplants, diced in roughly 4cm pieces (I just use regular eggplants but you can use the Chinese variety if you like)
1 Tbsp cornstarch

Directions:

Make the sauce by mixing all the sauce ingredients in a bowl: sweet chilli sauce, cooking wine, kecap manis, soy sauce, black vinegar, and garlic. Set aside.

Heat a skillet on MED-HIGH heat and drizzle 2 tablespoons of oil into the skillet and swirl around to coat. Add the eggplants in batches (don’t overcrowd the pan, only sear one layer of eggplant at once) and sear them until the centres are soft and the skin blisters or wrinkles.

The eggplant will absorb the oil right away so don’t worry if your pan looks dry because the eggplants will release some oil and liquid as it cooks. Remove from the pan and set aside.

In the same skillet, turn the heat down to MEDIUM and add in the sauce. Stir-fry the sauce for 30 seconds, then scoop out a couple tablespoons into a bowl and mix it with the cornstarch then add it back into the skillet with the rest of the sauce and stir. Let the sauce simmer and bubble for a minute and continue stirring until the sauce thickens (the consistency should be gloopy, similar to sweet chilli sauce). Taste and adjust flavours as needed.

Pour the sauce over the eggplants and mix. Done! Serve immediately.

Tip: You can make these into eggplant steaks by slicing the egg plants into 3cm thick slices and follow the recipe exactly the same way and pour the sauce over before serving.

Summarized Recipe:

Sweet Chilli Eggplant

Ingredients:

Sauce:
- 1/4 cup sweet chilli sauce
- 1/4 cup Chinese cooking wine
- 2 Tbsps kecap manis (Indonesian sweet soy sauce)
- 1 Tbsp soy sauce
- 1 Tbsp black vinegar (I like the Chinkiang brand)
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
2 Tbsps neutral oil
2 medium eggplants, diced in roughly 4cm pieces (I just use regular eggplants but you can use the Chinese variety if you like)
1 Tbsp cornstarch

Directions:

Make the sauce by mixing all the sauce ingredients in a bowl: sweet chilli sauce, cooking wine, kecap manis, soy sauce, black vinegar, and garlic. Set aside.
Heat a skillet on MED-HIGH heat and drizzle 2 tablespoons of oil into the skillet and swirl around to coat. Add the eggplants in batches (don’t overcrowd the pan, only sear one layer of eggplant at once) and sear them until the centres are soft and the skin blisters or wrinkles.
- The eggplant will absorb the oil right away so don’t worry if your pan looks dry because the eggplants will release some oil and liquid as it cooks. Remove from the pan and set aside.
In the same skillet, turn the heat down to MEDIUM and add in the sauce. Stir-fry the sauce for 30 seconds, then scoop out a couple tablespoons into a bowl and mix it with the cornstarch then add it back into the skillet with the rest of the sauce and stir. Let the sauce simmer and bubble for a minute and continue stirring until the sauce thickens (the consistency should be gloopy, similar to sweet chilli sauce). Taste and adjust flavours as needed.
Pour the sauce over the eggplants and mix. Done! Serve immediately.

Tip: You can make these into eggplant steaks by slicing the egg plants into 3cm thick slices and follow the recipe exactly the same way and pour the sauce over before serving.

August 12, 2020August 13, 2020

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