waiter, there's something in my...

there’s a first time for everything. my first ever foodblogging event. very exciting. been plotting this ever since I read about this event on is my blog burning. cooksister’s hosting this event “waiter, there’s something in my…” and the theme is stuffed vegetables/fruits. nothing like a little time pressure to get me actually doing anything. tomorrow is the final deadline for submission, I am naturally doing this only at midnight the night before.

as this is my first ever foodblogging event, I have decided to follow instructions assiduously, including the one to stuff an eggplant.

stuffed egglplant tempura

one eggplant
20 large shrimp, peeled and deveined
½ tsp cornflour
1 tbsp soy sauce
1 egg yolk
1 tsp sesame oil
500ml sunflower oil for deepfrying

tempura batter
100g flour
200ml ice-cold water
1 egg yolk

blend the shrimp, cornflour, egg yolk, soy sauce and sesame oil in a food processor till a sticky paste is formed. lightly whisk the flour, ice-cold water and egg yolk for the tempura batter until smooth. keep the shrimp paste and tempura batter refrigerated until needed. it’s imperative that the batter is kept cold till just before frying.

slice the eggplant into ½ inch thick slices, and make a slit within each slice to form a pocket for stuffing the shrimp paste. if this proves too fiddly, an alternative is to slice the eggplant into ¼ inch slices and make to sandwich the shrimp paste between two eggplant slices. sprinkle a little salt onto the surfaces of coat the stuffed eggplant slices in the tempura batter and deep fry till a light golden colour. drain and keep warm till served. sprinkle with sea salt. I used some of the excess stuffing in tiny chillies which were cooked in the same way.

I served my eggplant tempura on a bed of buckwheat soba noodles which had been dressed in soy sauce and dashi and a trickle of sesame oil, but the tempura would also be delicious eaten over a hot bowl of freshly steamed rice with a drizzle of soy sauce.

the shrimp paste can be used to stuff other vegetables and even tofu, and had I not gone the deepfryer route, the shrimp stuffed eggplant (sans tempura batter) could also have been steamed, and then finished panfrying lightly.

tempura must be eaten hot, and there is honestly no shame in standing over the stove, chopsticks and dipping sauce in hand to eat the freshly tempura-ed stuffed eggplant slices as y and i did.