Soy and ginger noodles with eggplant
These noodles are a favourite recipe of mine that I’ve been making for years. I’ve fiddled around with the balance of flavours a little over time but it’s still pretty much how it originally was. I love them, but then again, I have a bit of a ‘thing’ for anything noodle-y!
Serves 6
500g soft egg noodles (or fresh round rice noodles)
4 large eggplants (about 1.4 kg in total), cut into 1cm thick rounds.
5 large-ish spring onions, thinly sliced on the diagonal
150g bean shoots, or more to taste
Sesame marinade:
100 ml sesame oil
100 ml light olive oil
200 ml soy sauce
80 – 100 ml red wine vinegar
About ½ cup (110 g) caster sugar
1 – 2 small red chillies, finely chopped
2 – 3 tablespoons finely chopped fresh ginger
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
Preheat your oven to 220C and line 2 large baking trays with baking paper.
To make the marinade, tip all the ingredients into a large bowl and thoroughly whisk them together. Taste the marinade (it will be quite robust!) and if necessary, tinker with the amount of sugar, vinegar and sesame oil to suit you – there should be a good sweet/sour/salty balance. Pour half the marinade into another bowl and set it aside.
Cook the noodles according to the packet instructions in plenty of rapidly boiling salted water. When they’re ready, drain them in a colander, shaking them well to remove any excess water. Slip them into one of the bowls of marinade, and give them a gentle but thorough toss so they’re well coated. Set them aside in a cool spot.
Sit the eggplant slices in a single layer on the prepared baking trays. Brush them on both sides with some of the reserved marinade. Slide the trays into the oven and cook the eggplant for 20-25 minutes until it’s tender and golden, brushing the slices once or twice more with the leftover marinade while they’re cooking.
When the slices are a lovely burnished golden colour, remove them from the oven. Let them cool on the trays a little, then slice them into 1 cm wide strips and toss them with any marinade that’s left in the bowl.
Scrape the eggplant mixture into the bowl with the noodles and mix them together, then gently mix in most of the spring onion and bean shoots.
To serve, scoop the noodles into bowls and garnish them with the reserved spring onion and bean shoots. (I usually serve this at room temperature, but it’s also very good slightly chilled).