Grilled eggplant salad with boiled eggs and dried shrimp
For many Western-trained chefs, cooking is about highlighting an ingredient's natural flavours: take a nice piece of meat or fish, cook it perfectly, sprinkle some salt on it and then tell your guests that you "wanted the lamb to speak for yourself."
That type of cooking has never been my style. While I appreciate that respect for product, as someone who was trained in Asian kitchens, it's impossible for me to meet something edible that couldn't be improved with a little chilli, soy or fish sauce.
A case in point is this Thai eggplant salad. Being half-Romanian, I grew up eating salate de vinete, a humble Transylvanian eggplant salad. I love it. I will always love it. But what Thais do to barbecue eggplant is, well, just better. More chilli. More fish sauce. More deliciousness. When I first had it in Bangkok, it was a revelation, and I still feel that there are few recipes out there that can match its clarity of flavour and understated complexity.
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Servings: 4
Grilled eggplant salad with boiled eggs and dried shrimp
4 Japanese purple eggplants, about 12” long
4 large eggs
1/4 cup fish sauce
1/2 cup fresh lime juice
1 tsp crushed, dried Thai bird eye chilli
2 handfuls coriander leaves
2 handfuls mint leaves
4 small red Asian shallots or 1-2 banana shallots finely sliced
2 scallions finely sliced
8 tsp dried shrimp, roughly blitzed in food processor (found at any Chinese market)
Method
Heat barbecue or grill pan over medium high heat. Poke a few holes in eggplants and place on grill with no oil. Cook until very charred on all sides and inside is very tender. Take off grill and let cool to room temperature. Gently peel and set flesh aside.
Bring a small pot of water to boil. Gently lay eggs into pot and cook for exactly 7 minutes. Immediately run under cold water to stop cooking. Peel and set aside
Mix fish sauce, lime juice and chilli together. The dressing should taste sour, then salty, then hot on your palate. You may need more or less dressing depending on size of eggplants.
To assemble, cut eggplant into three pieces and gently put into mixing bowl. Fold in the herbs, shallots and scallions. Season with the dressing, adding little by little and tasting all the while.
Place salad onto a platter. Cut eggs in half and arrange around the outside of the salad. Sprinkle dried shrimp onto each egg and serve immediately. Eat with a lot of rice.