“A southern Chinese delicacy, stuffed vegetable and tofu dishes are very popular with the Hakka people. Traditionally, Asian eggplant is stuffed with a filling made with prawns and pork but I’ve just used prawns. Use large Japanese eggplant if available.”
Ingredients
Prawn stuffing
Oyster dipping sauce
Method
1.For prawn stuffing, process all ingredients except spring onion in a food processor to a coarse paste (1-2 minutes), transfer to a bowl, add spring onion and mix well to combine. Cover, refrigerate until required.
2.For oyster dipping sauce, combine ingredients in a bowl and set aside.
3.Slice eggplant diagonally into 2cm-thick pieces, then halve each piece horizontally, without cutting all the way through, to make a pocket for stuffing. Spoon ½ tbsp prawn stuffing into each eggplant pocket, pressing to spread prawn stuffing evenly. Dust eggplant with cornflour, shaking off excess, and season with sea salt.
4.Heat oil in a deep-sided frying pan or wok over medium-high heat until hot. Shallow-fry eggplant in batches, turning occasionally, until eggplant is tender and golden and prawn stuffing is cooked through (5-6 minutes). Drain on absorbent paper and serve hot with oyster dipping sauce.
