Water 1 cup (about 200 ml), soy sauce 1/4 cup, potato starch 1 tbsp, red rock sugar 1 tsp
Mirin 1 tbsp, shallot sauce about 3 tbsp
To make the sauce:
Put three quarters of a cup of water and the red rock sugar in a pan and bring to the boil until the sugar dissolves. Mix the remaining quarter of water with the potato starch and stir it in to thicken.
Add the soy sauce and mirin to balance the sweetness, then stir in the shallot sauce, bring back to the boil, and it is done.
“Use it as a dressing, a dipping sauce, or a braising sauce.”
Ingredients: 4 aubergines
Cut the aubergines into short cylinders and poach them in water until cooked. Drain, arrange on a plate and spoon over the sauce. It is a very light dish. The aubergine sits in the shallot sauce, the clear golden shallots against the purple skin — it looks good enough that nobody waits to be asked, and one mouthful explains the rest.