Spicy Stuffed Aubergines with Yakitori Pork Chops

Ingredients
2 pork chops
4 tbsp Yakitori sauce (Japanese)
1 aubergine (eggplant) - see Step 2 for preparations
1 courgette (diced)
a handful of (100g) mushrooms (chopped)
1 yellow pepper (diced)
1 green chilli (chopped)
1 clove of garlic (chopped)
Half a tin of chopped tomoatoes (200g)
1 tbsp chilli bean paste (optional)
olive oil
salt & pepper


Step 1
Marinate the pork chops in the Yakitori sauce. If you can't find Yakitori sauce the simply mix some dark soy with brown sugar and use that instead. Leave in the fridge to marinate for a while.


Step 2
Heat the oven to 180°C. Slice the aubergine in half longways. Scoop out the flesh to leave the skin. Set the flesh aside for step 3. Rub olive oil, salt and pepper into the skin of the aubergine. Place them on a baking tray and pop them in the oven for 15-20 minutes until soft.

Step 3
Dice the aubergine, mushrooms, courgette and pepper. In a large frying pan fry the garlic and chilli until the garlic starts to turn brown. Then add the vegetables, chopped tomatoes and chilli bean paste (optional) and continue to cook for 5 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.

Step 4
Remove the aubergine skins from the over and spoon the vegetables into the skins. Place the stuffed skins back in the oven.

Step 5
Fry the marinated pork chops for 3-4 minutes each side. When they are done serve with the stuffed aubergines.

In Japan Yakitori sauce is traditionally used with poultry, in particular chicken. We stumbled upon the fact that it tastes great with pork simply because we didn't know that you're supposed to use it with chicken. Try it, you might like it.

Marinated Pork Satay

Right then here we go with the first recipe. This was one of the dishes that inspired this blog. Its a recipe for two. I hope you enjoy.

Ingredients:
2 pork steaks (sliced into strips)
100g of green beans (halved in length)
1 green pepper (sliced)
7 cherry tomatoes (halved)
1 clove of garlic (chopped)
2 pinches of Muer (Wood ear)
1 tbsp satay sauce
1 tbsp light soy sauce
1 tsp knorr chicken powder
1 tbsp olive oil

For the marinade:
1 tsp corn flour
1 tsp light soy sauce
1 tsp dark soy sauce
1 tsp sesame oil

1) Mix the marinade ingredients together and pour over the pork strips. They will need to marinate for at least 10 minutes. To prepare the muer place in a bowl of recently boiled water for 10 minutes.

2) When the pork has been marinated for long enough, heat half the olive oil in a pan and fry the pork strips for 5 minutes. Once cooked through remove pork from pan and set aside.

3) Using the same pan heat the rest of the oil, when hot add the garlic and cook for 30 seconds. Then add the tomatoes, beans and pepper. Fry for 3-5 mins until the vegetables lose some of their firmness.

4) Drain the muer and add to the pan with the pork. Add the satay sauce, soy sauce and the chicken powder and stir thoroughly. If the dish looks a bit dry add some water but not too much.

5) Serve immediately with rice.