Chinese Red Braised Aubergines

After a recent meal at Silk Road, Camberwell, I resolved to try cooking the aubergine dish I loved so much at home. Unfortunately, googling 'homestyle aubergines' threw up nothing. Frustratingly, it seems like a name the restaurant gave to the dish themselves. I improvised, adopting some of the methods they used, such as peeling the aubergine, instead.

Handily enough, I had enough leftover red soy sauce from these noodles, so this was to be the basis of the dish. Peeled and then fried and braised, the aubergines took on a pleasantly silky texture just as they had done at the restaurant. I replaced the peppers in the original dish with some broccoli and celery I had hanging around, which I think I prefered. The broccoli florets soaked up the sauce nicely and had a good texture constrast with their grassy crunch.

Chinese Red Braised Aubergine

Serves 2 as a side

2 small aubergines
3 cloves of garlic
1" of ginger
4 tbsp red soy sauce (recipe is on Josh's blog)
2 stalks of spring onion
1/2 a head of broccoli
2 stalks of celery
1/2 tbsp cornflour, slaked
200ml water or stock

Peel the aubergine and slice it into rounds. Finely mince the garlic and ginger, destring the celery stalks and slice diagonally. Separate the broccoli into florets. Slice the spring onion diagonally and set to one side.

Heat 2 tbsp oil in a wok. Add the aubergine rounds and fry until browned on each side. Remove from the pan, add a dribble more oil and heat until almost smoking. Add the celery and stir-fry for 2 or 3 minutes and add the ginger and garlic. Fry until fragrant, get the aubergine back in there. Stir fry for a few minutes and add the red soy sauce. Stir until it's all coated, slosh in the water and simmer for 10 - 15 minutes, adding more water if it's looking dry. Add the broccoli and simmer for a further 10 minutes or until tender.

Finally, add the cornflour and simmer until thickened and glossy. Take off the heat, garnish with the spring onion and serve with rice.