Smoky eggplant (aubergine) and chilli relish

Inspired by David Thompson's Nahm and Longrain's Martin Boetz

I’m all about the relishes at the moment.

This one was inspired by a recent meal at Nahm, David Thompson’s Michelin-starred Thai restaurant in Mayfair. One of the dishes we had was grilled Chiang Mai chilli relish served with trout and lemongrass, pork crackling and herbs. The relish was the highlight, not only of the dish, but of the whole meal. Sadly, its accompaniments were rendered rather bland and tasteless beside it. The pork crackling should have worked, but there was little of it and what there was had been cut up so fine you would be forgiven for missing it entirely. I would have happily foregone the trout in favour of some chunky, salty, crispy strips of crackling for dipping.

Inspired to right these wrongs, I decided to make the relish at home suitably accompanied by lashings of crispy pork belly (more on that in a subsequent post). I did a search online, but was unable to find Thompson’s recipe at the time. Instead I ended up with Martin Boetz’s Roasted eggplant (aubergine) and chili relish from his book Modern Thai Food. I had an eggplant in the fridge that needed using so I decided to try out his recipe.

This relish is more fitting of Pam Corbin’s definition than the tomato relish I posted on Saturday because it is not cooked for a long time and it should be eaten reasonably soon after making. The original recipe calls for four green or purple eggplants and I assume here that he refers to Thai eggplants, which are much smaller than the ones that are most readily available in the West. I used one large, common eggplant and it worked just fine. I also substituted some other ingredients, adjusted some of the quantities, changed the method slightly, and added coriander, so I have provided Boetz original recipe followed by my own.

While writing this post, I discovered that Amazon allows you to search inside David Thompson's book Thai Food, so I have since found the recipe for the grilled Chiang Mai chilli relish. The crispy pork belly was such a success that I hardly need an excuse to make it again, but were I looking for one, I think I just found it.

Martin Boetz’s Roasted eggplant and chili relish

Ingredients

4 long green or purple eggplants
6 finger-length chilies
6 small shallots, unpeeled
6 cloves garlic, unpeeled
1 tomato
1 teaspoon bird’s eye chili powder
¼ cup (50g) shaved palm sugar
3 tablespoons fish sauce or sea salt
1 tbsp dried tamarind pulp mixed with 3 tablespoons hot water, mashed and strained to obtain the juice

Method

On a grill plate or in the oven, roast the eggplants, chilies, shallots, garlic and tomato individually until soft and blackened on the outside, turning frequently to roast evenly.

Peel the eggplants – keep the flesh, discard the skin. Peel the shallots, garlic and tomato. Place all the ingredients in a bowl and mix well. Spoon into a mortar and pestle and pound until a uniform relish paste is achieved. Depending on the size of your mortar, you may need to do this in 2-3 batches.

Flavor with the chilli powder, palm sugar, fish sauce and tamarind juice. The relish should taste hot, sweet, sour and smoky.

Makes 1 cup

Smoky eggplant and chilli relish

Ingredients

6 shallots, unpeeled
6 cloves garlic, unpeeled
1 tomato
1 large aubergine
1 tbsp wet tamarind paste
1 tbsp palm sugar, melted with a few drops of water
2 tbsp fish sauce
½ tsp hot chilli powder (or to taste)
Large handful finely chopped coriander
¼ red chilli, finely chopped
¼ green chilli, finely chopped

Method 

Preheat the oven to 180C.

Put the shallots, garlic, and tomato on a baking tray and roast until softened; unless your garlic cloves are still attached, they will cook much quicker than the other ingredients, so remove first if necessary.

Roast the aubergine whole on a grill plate, barbeque or directly over the flames of a gas ring, turning frequently until the skin is uniformly blackened. Leave to cool, then cut in half and scrape out the flesh with a spoon, discarding the skin. Put the flesh in a bowl and use a fork to mash to a rough paste.

When the shallots, garlic, and tomato are cool enough to handle, peel and either pound in a mortar and pestle, or for a thicker, more varied consistency, roughly chop before adding to the bowl and then mash together with the aubergine.

Add the tamarind, palm sugar, fish sauce, chilli powder, coriander and a little of the green and red chillies. Stir, check for seasoning and, if necessary, add more of the red and green chillies. 

Martin Boetz suggests serving the relish with fresh cabbage leaves, cucumber, or as a sauce for grilled meat or fish. I have tried all of the above, and while I think the relish holds its own when paired with a simple salad leaf, it is definitely best with meat, particularly the porcine variety. 

Comments

[Ma]

I cooked what must be David Thompson's smoky eggplant and chilli relish - ie not the Martin Boetz version. The main difference seems to be that this recipe has coriander in it. I cooked it to accompany the crispy pork belly dish (see separate post). I was thrilled with the result, especially because Hash Brown was particularly complimentary about the relish.

[Vix]

The other version is mine. David Thompson provided the idea, but I don't have a copy of his book in London so was unable to find his recipe. I searched online and found Martin Boetz instead. Apart from coriander, the main difference is the method; I do the aubergine on the stove top as I find it results in a much smokier flavour than in the oven. Although if I had a BBQ I'd do it on that.

I am glad you enjoyed it.

FYI - Here is the post Ma refers to.