Pork and eggplant salad with salted chilli

Australian Gourmet Traveller fast recipe for pork and eggplant salad with salted chilli.

Serves 4

Prep

15M

Cook

10M

Total

25M

Skip to Recipe

The combination of steamed and raw eggplant gives this Thai-style dish great textural interest, while a tangy salted-chilli condiment served alongside lets you control the amount of heat. It’s great to serve with all manner of Asian dishes and keeps well in the fridge for a couple of months.

Ingredients

4 small Japanese eggplant, thickly sliced

8 apple eggplant, trimmed (see note)

2 tbsp vegetable or grapeseed oil

300 gm minced pork

2 red or golden shallots, thinly sliced

2 red birdseye chillies, thinly sliced, or to taste

1 garlic clove, finely chopped

2 tbsp crushed palm sugar

2 tbsp lime juice

2 tbsp fish sauce

½ cup each (loosely packed) coriander, Thai basil and mint

To serve: pork crackling (optional; see note)

Salted chilli

6 red birdseye chillies, coarsely chopped

2 tbsp sea salt

1 tbsp each fish sauce and rice vinegar

Method

Main

1.For salted chilli, process ingredients in a small food processor until finely chopped and set aside until required. Refrigerate in a sterile container for up to 2 months.

2.Steam Japanese eggplant until tender (4-5 minutes), then set aside. Meanwhile, thinly slice apple eggplant on a mandolin and stand in iced water to crisp (4-5 minutes).

3.Heat oil in a wok or deep frying pan over high heat, add pork and stir-fry until browned all over (4-5 minutes), then combine in a bowl with shallots, chilli and garlic. Set aside.

4.Pound palm sugar with a mortar and pestle, then stir in lime juice and fish sauce.

5.Drain apple eggplant, add to pork mixture, drizzle with lime juice mixture, toss to combine and serve on a platter over steamed eggplant and scattered with herbs and pork crackling.

Note Apple eggplant and pork crackling are available from Asian grocers.
Notes

Styling by Emma Knowles

Styling by Geraldine Muñoz

Ingredients

Method

Main

Related stories