Ingredients
Vegetables
- 2 large eggplant, bite sized chunks
- 6 cloves of garlic, minced
- 2 medium onions, sectors
- 1 punnet Shimeji / Nameko / Asian mushrooms of choice
Sauce
- 1 cup red cooking wine
- 4 Tbsp + sweet soy sauce
- 2 Tbsp + maple syrup or alternative
- 1 tsp corn flour
- 1/2 cup cold water
Instructions
- DO NOT PRE-HEAT OVEN.
- Chop all vegetables, add to a heavy clay pot or dutch oven and stir.
- Set the corn flour and cold water aside separately with a fork or whisk to wait until needed.
- Add all remaining sauce ingredients to the pot, stir.
- Put the pot in the oven (covered), and set temperature to 230*C.
- Set oven timer for 1 1/2 hours. Check the pot and stir every 30 minutes.
- At the last 30 minute check, prepare rice in a rice cooker.
- Once cooking time has elapsed, dissolve corn flour in cold water, add to the pot, stir through thoroughly. Cover pot and transfer to dining table to rest for a few minutes to thicken.
- Transfer hot rice into serving ware and transfer to the table, by this time the clay pot contents should have thickened.
Notes
- When I say cooking wine, I mean the one that has been living in the fridge for a week or two, if you don't have one of those, open a fresh bottle and serve with dinner.
- If you don't have sweet soy sauce, or want to make this dish gluten free, just use an alternative, dark soy sauce and honey or tamari and golden syrup.
- Maple Syrup can be substituted with brown cane or coconut blossom sugar, half as much golden syrup, or a soaked and pitted date pureed with the other sauce ingredients for a low refined sugar option.
- Served with boiled basmati rice.
- To add some greens, consider serving some edamame soy beans in their pots as an appetizer, the clay pot is great for small gatherings and requires frequent checking so small finger-food items work well for casual entertainers.
- Consider a simple flavoured dessert like a coconut custard or sago pudding, the eggplant is not a dense or heavy meal but it is quite rich in flavour.