RECIPE: SMOKED EGGPLANT, SESAME, FURIKAKE
An excerpt from our cookbook — The key here is to prepare a fire or grill to cook the eggplant. Woodfire gives a depth of flavour that pushes this dish to the next level.
Serves 6
Ingredients:
10 long Japanese eggplants (aubergines) or 6 small heirloom eggplants
Furikake to serve
PONZU BASE
½ lemon
½ lime
¼ grapefruit
1 orange
125 ml light soy sauce
2 tablespoons yuzu juice
5 x 5 cm piece kombu
PONZU DRESSING
80 ml Ponzu base
60 ml light soy sauce
10 g shaved bonito
SESAME DRESSING
90 g tahini paste
1 teaspoon light soy sauce
½ teaspoon sugar
¼ teaspoon salt
To make the ponzu base, wash all of the citrus fruit and dry well. Slice the fruit thinly and place it in a container. Add the soy sauce, yuzu juice and kombu. Leave for at least 3 hours or overnight.
Remove the citrus from the container with a slotted spoon and squeeze as much of the liquid from the fruit back into the container as you can. Discard the fruit. Taste and adjust with a little more soy sauce if it’s too sour. Pass the ponzu through a fine strainer and store in the refrigerator.
To make the ponzu dressing, in a small saucepan over medium heat, bring the ponzu base, soy sauce and 1 tablespoon water to a simmer. Add the bonito and mix well.
Remove from the heat and leave to infuse for 30 minutes. Pass through a fine sieve and discard the bonito.
To make the sesame dressing, in a small bowl, combine the tahini paste, soy sauce, sugar and salt. Whisk in about 60 ml water until the sauce is the consistency of thick but pourable cream. Add more water if needed. Set aside.
Preheat a barbecue or chargrill pan to high. Poke a few holes in the skin of the eggplants with a metal skewer and grill the whole eggplants until nicely charred on the outside and tender inside, about 10–15 minutes.
Put the eggplants on a tray, cover with plastic wrap and leave to cool. Once cool, peel the skin off the eggplants and tear the flesh into strips (or leave whole if using small eggplants). Put the cooked eggplant in a bowl and dress with 60 ml of the sesame dressing.
To serve, place 2 tablespoons of sesame dressing on a serving plate and arrange the eggplant on top. Dress the dish with 3 teaspoons of ponzu dressing and sprinkle generously with furikake
