The ideal balance of sweet and savoury flavours- mango, eggplant and herbs tossed together with delicate soba noodles in a zesty chilli dressing. Jump to Recipe
The highlight of this month has definitely been seeing all the summer fruit creep its way back onto the market shelves. Don’t get me wrong I love winter fruit, but summer fruit is something else.
Ever since I can remember mangos have been my absolute favourite fruit. I still remember the delight I felt every time my dad would bring a mango home. That’s right, just one. Don’t ask me why he thought it was a great idea to share one mango between the four of us, but that’s what my family always seemed to do. I’d slowly nibble at my share, relishing every bite trying to make it last for as long as possible.
Maybe it’s due to the minimal amounts of mango consumed throughout my childhood, but nowadays I tend to go a tad overboard when mango season swings by. Last year I even found myself compulsively buying 14 mangos at one time (and yes, I did manage to eat them all!).
Although my love of mango seems to have been around forever, it wasn’t until a few years ago that I tried mango in savoury dishes. It’s now a go-to ingredient for many of my summer dinners, including my all time favourite: Ottolenghi’s soba noodles with eggplant and mango. This salad has the perfect marriage of sweet and savoury and is one of the most refreshing meals you can have on a balmy summer evening.
Not only is this salad insanely delicious, but it’s also super easy and can be made in advance. In fact, as time progresses the flavours get even better! It’s the perfect meal to make ahead of time if you know you have a busy week or even for a packed lunch. In other words, it has very few downfalls.
The only thing I did change about this recipe is that I decided to roast my eggplant instead of frying it. Mainly this is because I often make this meal in a hurry and can get on with other tasks whilst the eggplant cooks in the oven. By the time I’ve prepared all the other ingredients and come back to the eggplant it’s crisp and juicy and delicious. Roasting it also adds that smoky roasted veggie flavour that I find compliments the rest of the dish quite well.
Bakers Notes:
- If you have a relatively low spice tolerance I recommend using half a chilli
- 2 eggplants, cut into 2cm dice
- 4-5 tbs sunflower oil
- 120ml rice vinegar
- 40g sugar
- ½ tsp salt
- 2 garlic cloves, crushed
- 1 red chilli, finely chopped
- 1 tsp sesame oil
- 1 lime, grated zest and juice
- 300g soba noodles
- ½ red onion, thinly sliced
- 1 large mango, peeled and cut into 1cm dice
- 40g basil, chopped
- 40g coriander, chopped
- Preheat oven to 190°C. Place the eggplant on a lined baking tray and drizzle with sunflower oil. Season with salt and bake for 20-30 minutes or until eggplant is golden brown.
- In a small saucepan, heat the vinegar, sugar and salt on a low heat until the sugar has dissolved. Remove from the heat and add the garlic, chilli and sesame oil. Set aside to cool, then add the lime zest and juice.
- Cook the noodles using the packet instructions, ensuring that you run them under cold water once they're cooked.
- In a large bowl, toss the noodles with the dressing, eggplant, red onion, mango and half the herbs. Set aside for 1-2 hours.
- When ready to serve, add the remaining herbs to the salad.