We came across this dish in the historic centre of Bangkok and are keen to share it with others, as it’s a delicious example of the cuisine that has developed in Thailand through Chinese influences. Meat is a common ingredient there, so we’ve included it in the recipe, but you can simply leave it out or use one of the many alternative products available. This quickly turns it into a vegetarian or even vegan dish.
Makheua Yao is the onomatopoeic rendering of มะเขือยาว, which literally means ‘long aubergine’. Pad means fried, and Tao Jiao is a fermented yellow soy bean paste, which we have already described in our recipe for Khao Soi from Laos.
We’ve described the best way to prepare the aubergines in this Chinese recipe for ‘fish- fragrant aubergine’. We like to cut them into irregularly shaped pieces of roughly the same size by cutting them diagonally and turning them slightly after each cut. Take another look at that.
The aubergine pieces are then placed in well-salted water for 15 minutes, or perhaps a little longer. We place a deep plate on top to keep the pieces submerged. This process ensures that the vegetables absorb less oil later on.
Next, let the eggplant pieces dry on a clean kitchen towel and dust them with a little cornflour. Asian aubergines are thin and long, and purple or green in colour. These varieties are not always available here. However, Italian aubergines work just as well; they are plumper and have a deep purple, almost black colour.
Shallow-fry the aubergines in a little neutral vegetable oil over a medium-high heat until they are a light golden brown on all sides. It’s best to do this in batches so you can keep an eye on the process. You can use a wok, but a wide frying pan is actually more practical.
A simple sauce is made by mixing yellow soybean paste, light soy sauce and oyster sauce, with a little sugar added. The sauce is salty enough for the whole dish, which is why – unlike in most Thai recipes – no fish sauce is used here. Anyone who wants to eat vegan is looking for a mushroom-based substitute for oyster sauce (‘Mushroom Oyster Sauce’).
In Thailand, bird’s eye chillies and garlic would now be pounded in a mortar to form a chunky paste – but this makes the dish extremely hot, mainly because of the crushed chilli seeds. To suit our palates, we’ll therefore stick to roughly chopped garlic and a little fresh chilli, but using the larger, less hot varieties. If you fancy something spicier, you can always mix in one of those small but vicious bird’s eye chillies.
Minced pork and whole Thai basil leaves are other ingredients used in this dish.
Sauté the garlic and chilli in a little neutral vegetable oil over a high heat for 30 seconds, …
…before adding the meat and frying it until it is crumbly as quickly as possible. It should just cook through, but not dry out.
Add the pre-fried aubergine pieces and the prepared sauce, then mix everything together thoroughly straight away. There’s no need to cook anything further, so a good minute is plenty.
Finally, we add washed, whole Thai basil leaves; they should just wilt briefly in the heat.
That’s all there is to it. We can now enjoy this simple yet flavourfully complex dish with jasmine rice. Please note: in Thailand, people eat with a spoon and a fork for support (chopsticks are only provided with noodle soups), and these are the most suitable utensils for this dish too.
Enjoy.
And may the taste be with you.
Ingredients (for 4 people) :
For the aubergines:
3–4 aubergines, approx. 700–800 g (Asian, long and thin – or Italian)
1 tbsp salt
1 tbsp cornflour (optional)
Neutral vegetable oil for frying
For the sauce:
2 tbsp fermented yellow soybean paste
1.5 tbsp light soy sauce
1 tbsp oyster sauce
1 tsp sugar
For frying:
A little neutral vegetable oil
6 garlic cloves, roughly chopped
2–4 large fresh chillies, deseeded (alternatively or additionally: bird’s eye chillies, to taste)
400 g minced pork
1 handful of Thai basil
