Eggplant Manta

Time: 1330
Place: Imperial Yuan China
Author: Hu Szu-Hui
Source: Yin-Shan Cheng-Yao (Proper and Essential things for the Emperor's Food and Drink.
Modern Source: Translation from A Soup for the Qan - Paul Buell and Eugene Anderson - 2000
Redaction By: Master Drake (Craig Jones) & Mistress Acacia (Chris d'Aquino)
Redaction Date: 6 December 2011

Original Recipe:
Mutton, sheep's fat, sheep's tail, onion, prepared mandarin orange peel (cut up each finely), "tender eggplant" (remove the pith).

[For] combine ingredients with meats into a stuffing. But [instead of making a dough covering] put it inside the eggplant [skin] and steam. Add garlic, cream [or yoghurt etc.], finely ground basil. Eat.

Ingredients (Manta):

5 Finger Eggplants
250g Fatty Lamb Mince
3 French Shallots - finely chopped (should be about 3/4 cup)
1/2 teaspoons of Fresh Mandarin Peel, finely grated (about 1 Mandarin) (note: Used Blood Orange peel - mandarin was out of season)
Light Pinch of Flaky Sea Salt

Ingredients (Sauce):

4 Cloves of Garlic, finely minced.
125g Low Fat Greek Yoghurt (can use full fat).
Pinch of Black Pepper.
2 generous pinches of Flaky Sea Salt.
Handful of Basil Leaves (1/4 cup), finely chopped.

Method:

Slice top end of the finger eggplant off, core out the eggplant with an apple corer and a knife.
Finely dice shallots and sweat with a tiny bit of oil (or melted lamb fat) off. Add lamb and fry until brown. Fully cooking the lamb is not required.
One minute before lamb is done, add orange peel and pinch of salt.
Let mixture cool
Setup Bamboo Steamers
Stuff meat mixture into eggplant, use the back end of a wooden spoon to tamp the mixture in.
Steam the Manta for 15-20 minutes. Eggplant should be tender but not falling apart.
Whilst eggplant is steaming, finely mince garlic and fry in saucepan with a drop of oil.
When garlic is soft, add salt, pepper and yoghurt, turn down to very low and gently simmer. Just before serving add sauce.
Serve the eggplant, pouring the sauce over the top.

Collected Ingredients

The stuffed manta gently steaming away

The finished manta with sauce. The left manta has been cut open. Not the most appealing dish, but exceptionally tasty.

The original recipe as published in A Soup for the Qan ( http://tinyurl.com/zquqx4j )

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