Grilled Aubergine Salad with Roasted Rice Powder, Chilli and Citrus Dressing

This recipe was published in The Independent as part of a barbecue piece, and also featured in Verge Magazine.

Grilling aubergines directly over flame is what makes this dish. The flesh turns silky and smoky in a way a hot oven can't replicate. Thai purple aubergines are ideal - they're small, cook fast and hold their shape well. If you're using regular aubergines, give them longer and keep turning until the skin is fully charred and the inside has completely collapsed.

The roasted rice powder is the backbone of the dressing. Toast jasmine rice in a dry pan until deep golden, then pound it down. It adds a nutty, sandy texture you can't get from anything else. Don't skip it.

The duck egg is not optional. Soft-boil it, place it on top, and pierce it at the table. The yolk runs into the dressing and becomes part of it.

Grilled Aubergine Salad with Roasted Rice Powder, Chilli and Citrus Dressing

Serves: 2 | Prep: 20 mins | Cook: 30 mins

Ingredients

• 4 Thai purple aubergines (most Asian supermarkets stock them; larger aubergines work too - allow more time on the grill)

• 2 duck eggs

• 10g jasmine rice

• 10g mint, torn

• 10g coriander

• 10g Thai shallots, peeled and thinly sliced (banana shallots work)

• 1 tsp toasted sesame seeds

For the pickle

• 2 tbsp caster sugar

• 1/2 tsp table salt

• 50ml distilled white vinegar

• 1/4 cucumber, thinly sliced

For the dressing

• Juice of 3 limes

• Juice of 2 clementines

• 2 tsp fish sauce (use seaweed sauce to keep it vegetarian)

• 1/2 tsp chilli powder

• 2 tsp caster sugar

• 3 tsp tamarind water

Method

1. Make the pickle first. Bring the sugar, salt, vinegar and 50ml water to a simmer, stirring until dissolved. Remove from the heat, add the cucumber and refrigerate while you cook everything else.

2. Grill the aubergines directly over a high flame on a barbecue or gas hob, turning regularly, until the skin is fully charred and the flesh is completely soft - about 10 minutes for Thai purple aubergines, 20-25 minutes for larger ones. In an oven, crank it to full blast and roast until the skin is charred and the flesh has collapsed.

3. Soft-boil the duck eggs for 6-7 minutes in salted water. Transfer immediately to ice-cold water with a splash of olive oil - this makes peeling easier. Set aside at room temperature.

4. Toast the jasmine rice in a dry frying pan over medium heat, shaking constantly until deep golden and aromatic. Pound to a rough powder in a mortar, or blitz briefly in a spice grinder.

5. Make the dressing: combine the lime and clementine juices, fish sauce, chilli powder, sugar and tamarind water. It should taste sour, salty, a little sweet and hot. Add more lime if it needs sharpening, more fish sauce if it needs salt, more sugar if it's too sharp.

6. Add the aubergines, mint, coriander, shallots and pickled cucumber to the dressing. Fold gently, keeping the aubergines as whole as possible.

7. Plate the salad and sit the duck eggs on top. Pierce them to release the yolks, sprinkle with rice powder and sesame seeds, and add a pinch of salt to the yolks. Serve with steamed jasmine rice.

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