Japan

Mabo nasu

Name: Mabo nasu
Total time: 30 min
Yield: 3 servings
Cuisine: Japanese
Ingredients: 3 long purple brinjals brinjal (eggplant, aubergine); Salt, for soaking; 3 tbsp cooking oil (vegetable oil); Minced pork (pork mince, ground pork), or chicken mince; 3 cloves minced garlic; 1 inch minced ginger; 1 tbsp doubanjiang; 1 tbsp plus 1 tsp sweet bean sauce; 1 tbsp soy sauce; 1 tsp sugar; 3/4 cup chicken stock (chicken broth); 2 tsp in 2 tbsp water cornflour (cornstarch); 3 stalks chopped spring onion (green onion, scallion); 1 tsp sesame oil

Mapo's milder Japanese sibling, starring silky brinjal. Rice will disappear.

30 minTime

13 gProtein each

mediumSpice

Mapo, the Japanese way3 chapters · 2 min read

Make it your way

Grandma's wayThe original. Handle with reverence.

The original

360kcal

13 gprotein

5 gfibre

30minutes

Per serving, worked out from the ingredient table. Grandma's way is the starting point the other versions are compared with.

Ingredients

Brinjal (eggplant, aubergine)3 long purple brinjals

Saltfor soaking

Cooking oil (vegetable oil)3 tbsp

Minced pork (pork mince, ground pork)or chicken mince

Garlic3 cloves, minced

Ginger2.5 cm, minced

Doubanjiang1 tbsp

Sweet bean sauce1 tbsp plus 1 tsp

Soy sauce1 tbsp

Sugar1 tsp

Chicken stock (chicken broth)¾ cup

Cornflour (cornstarch)2 tsp, in 2 tbsp water

Spring onion (green onion, scallion)3 stalks, chopped

Sesame oil1 tsp

Method

5 steps

1Cut the brinjals into 6 cm batons and soak in salted water 10 minutes. Drain and pat very dry.
2Heat the oil in a wok on medium high and fry the brinjal for 6 minutes, turning, until soft and golden. Lift out.
3In the remaining oil, fry the mince for 4 minutes, breaking it up, until cooked through with no pink. Add garlic, ginger and doubanjiang for 1 minute.
4Add the stock, sweet bean sauce, soy sauce and sugar. Return the brinjal and simmer 3 minutes.
5Stir in the cornflour slurry and cook 1 minute until glossy. Finish with spring onion and sesame oil.

Serve it like this

Spoon into a shallow bowl with the brinjal arranged in a loose pile and spring onion scattered on top. Serve with lots of rice.

Bloom picks tonight's dinner for your diet and allergies, then cooks it with you step by step.

Mabo nasu

Make it your way

Ingredients

Method

Make it a meal