Spicy Garlic Eggplant with Chicken, Shrimp, and Scallop

2 Chinese Eggplants (long thin purple, good stuff) – Cut into ½ - ¾ inch chunks

1 Chicken Breast

1 Cup of baby shrimp and scallops

3-5 garlic cloves, thinly sliced (or be lazy and use a press, but thinly sliced looks nice, just sayin’)

1 Large white onion

1 tbsp soy sauce

2-3 tsp Sriracha (hot stuff)

1 lime

Fresh Bundle of Thai ‘Holy’ Basil (has a nice spicy licorice flavour), if you can’t find Thai basil use 2-3 star anise and fry them in the oil from the very start.

 1tsp sugar (could be brown, white or palm sugar)

1 tsp veg oil

Rice:

1½ Cups Sushi Rice

½ Cup Jasmin Rice

2.5 cups water

Rice: Rinse  rice 3 times, on 4^th time add extra water and vigorously rub rice grains together to polish them.

Strain with fine mesh sieve and let sit for 30 mins

Add 2.5 cups water and cook on medium with lid off for 15-20 mins until completely absorbed, then take off heat and put lid on for 5, fluff, and let sit 5 more mins with lid on. 

Main:

Start by cutting the onion thinly and cooking it on medium for 15-20 mins, until translucent and slightly caramelized.

Now, heat the oil and fry the eggplant until golden brown on the outside.  Set aside.

For the protein, start by cutting the chicken into thin slices (roughly 1/3 inch). Fry the chicken briefly on high heat until golden on the outside. Then push the chicken aside and cook the shrimp and scallops for a few minutes until almost fully opaque.

Add the Garlic and continue frying for a minute, then add the mostly cooked onion and eggplant.

Mix the soy, sriracha, juice of 1 lime, and sugar. Pour into the pan and mix it around until completely incorporated. Rip up the basil leaves and throw them in at this point, let cook for 1 minute or 2.

This dish is easy to make and the Thai basil and lime give a really fresh flavour pop which is complemented with the kick from garlic and Sriracha. This dish could be done without the chicken, or with more seafood instead of chicken, or vegetarian if you add extra eggplant and use no meat/seafood.

Serve over hot rice.

Stay hungry my friends.

Duck & Barley Soup

2 Large white onions

9 medium Carrots, or 4-5 large (washed and trimmed)

5 or 6 Celery Stalks (washed and trimmed)

1 Head Garlic

1 Duck Body w. neck, heart, and liver (I used the legs and breasts in other recipes)

½ cup Pearl Barley

A few gallons of Water

Stock:

Start the soup by making a stock by boiling the duck with 1 large onion and a few garlic cloves. After 3 hours take all the duck, onion, and garlic out (throw the onion and garlic out).  Pick all the meat off the duck body, and other duck parts if you’re feeling adventurous. During the 3 hour cooking period add water every 45-60 mins to keep the duck covered.

                                                  Just plucked all the supple duck meat

Let the stock sit in the  the fridge over night so that the fat hardens. When you take the soup out remove the layer of fat on top.

Soup:

Bring the stock to a boil and add the duck meat you picked off the body. Bring back to a boil and add barley, let  simmer for 30 minutes. 

 Give the veg a medium chop and add bring the soup to a boil then simmer for 20 minutes. 

 

In the last 5 mins of cooking press the garlic into the soup with a garlic press, or if you don’t have a garlic press you can roughly chop the garlic put it in earlier with the other veg.

 Enjoy the soup with some soy sauce! (maybe some hot sauce if you want some heat)

Stay hungry my friends