Cauliflower & eggplant, both with hoisin

June 7, 2025

   

While Michael was away on a work trip, I set about making myself a large, vege-full set of dishes that I could spin out over many meals. These two recipes from Tenderheart had a complementary way about them - the eggplant's marinade includes hoisin sauce and it's served over rice, while the cauliflower recipe involves making one's own hoisin and includes jointly cooking white rice, brown rice and quinoa.

Since I'm not fond of McKinnon's recommended green onion and coriander garnishes for these dishes, my rendition ended up looking very beige and brown. I went a little light on the hoisin for the cauliflower and had plenty leftover to lend to the eggplant marinade. I really enjoyed the mixed grains and would repeat that process to serve alongside any number of recipes.

Meanwhile, the eggplant didn't quite live up to the glossy image in the book. It was pleasantly salty and savoury, very tender; neither flawed nor quite what I was hoping for in a 'char siu' dish. Once I'd managed my expectations this was a very good meal that packed nicely for work lunches. Little garnishes like peanuts and sesame seeds make all the difference to me!

Hoisin-glazed cauliflower with mixed grains & peanuts

(slightly adapted from Hetty Lui McKinnon's Tenderheart)

1 head cauliflower

olive oil

salt and pepper

1/3 cup roasted peanuts

hoisin sauce

3 tablespoons tamari

2 tablespoons tahini

1 teaspoon garlic powder

2 tablespoons brown sugar

2 teaspoons sesame oil

1 teaspoon rice vinegar

pepper

2 teaspoons miso

mixed grains

1 cup brown rice

1/2 cup white rice

1/4 cup quinoa

salt

Preheat an oven to 200°C.

Place the rices and the quinoa in a sieve and rinse them. Transfer them to a medium-large saucepan with 2 1/2 cups of water and a generous pinch of salt. Set the saucepan over high heat, bring it all to the boil and then turn the heat down to low. Cook the grains for 30-35 minutes, until the water is absorbed and the grains are tender. Turn off the heat but leave the lid on the saucepan.

While the grains are cooking, make the hoisin sauce by whisking all the ingredients together in a bowl.

Chop the cauliflower into big, chunky florets. Place them in a baking tray and stir through olive oil, salt and pepper, and several tablespoons of the hoisin sauce. Roast for 20-30 minutes, until the cauliflower is tender.

To serve, load plates up with grains, then cauliflower, spoon over extra hoisin and then sprinkle over the peanuts.

Eggplant, 'char siu' style

(slightly adapted from Hetty Lui McKinnon's Tenderheart)

2 large eggplants, sliced into 1cm thick rounds

white sesame seeds, to garnish

marinade

2 cloves garlic, minced

3 tablespoons hoisin sauce

1 tablespoon tamari

1 tablespoon golden syrup

2 teaspoons rice vinegar

1 teaspoon five-spice powder

Whisk together all of the marinade ingredients. Arrange the eggplant slices in a shallow dish and pour the marinade over them. Allow the eggplants to soak up the marinade for at least 30 minutes and up to 4 hours. Turn them over and/or relayer them in the dish along the way, for more even flavouring, if you're marinating them for a longer period.

Preheat an oven to 200°C. Line 1-2 baking trays with paper.

Arrange the eggplant slices in one layer across the baking trays and bake them for 15 minutes. Retrieve the trays, flip the eggplant slices, and spoon some of the remaining marinade over them. Return to the oven for a further 15 minutes of baking. 

Serve the eggplant slices with more marinade spooned over the top, and a sprinkling of sesame seeds.