chocolatebuddha » Archives » Grilled Eggplant with Coconut Tom Yum Paste

Fried, steamed, grilled or mashed, I will eat an eggplant anytime. I love its mushy and earthy flavour. But probably I love it more because eggplants absorb a decent amount of oil. While scanning the fresh food aisles at the supermarket, a brief stopover initially to grab a carton of milk, a luscious spicy Thai-inspired flavour suddenly swirled in my mouth. Talk about thinking of food, this is one step higher!

And then the smooth, shiny deep purple skin of a Rubenesque eggplant whispered my name. I immediately relented without further ado. Back in the kitchen I gave both of them a tender rub, enjoying sensation of its patent skin and communicating through my hands, their destined path for the day. Then I left them, sliced, salted and oiled, to bask in the oven while I headed out to the backyard garden for some herbs.

To pluck fresh bird eyes chillies, kaffir lime leaves for cooking could be the tipping point for me never to live in a high rise property. The other closest reason would be the wonderful time spent with my labrador, Barkley, who showers me with unending love especially after a game of fetch in the garden. With none of Nigella’s primness, I instead squat at the backyard pounding these herbs with chopped garlic, ginger, lemongrass and Thai chilli paste in an old brick mortar and pestle. This old-fashioned laborious way has its pay off, an exotic swirl of bursting flavours will tantalize your olfactory senses incrementally with each strike. The paste is then cooked over low heat with fresh coconut milk until fragant and thick.

The grilled eggplant is finally combined with the cooked paste, sandwiched into lasagne-like layers and topped with shredded sweet basil leaves and a generous squeeze of lime for tiny explosive spurts of tang to wake the palate.

Now, where’s that carton of milk?