Oven Baked Korean-Style Aubergine Rice Bowl

Before you begin...

This recipe takes around 5-10 min to prep, so get your casserole dish and all your ingredients ready, then wash your fruit and veg

Note: Make sure your dish is oven-proof and safe to use on the hob. Don't have one? Start cooking in a large, wide-based pan then transfer to an oven-proof dish and cover tightly with foil

Now, let's get started!

Preheat the oven to 220°C/ 200°C (fan)/ gas 7, then heat a large, wide-based, hob-safe oven-proof casserole dish with a matching lid, with a generous drizzle of vegetable oil over a high heat

Trim the green stalk[s] off your aubergine[s] and chop into 4 wedges per person

Once hot, add the aubergine wedges to the dish and cook for 2-3 min or until lightly browned

Boil a kettle

Whilst the aubergine is browning, deseed your pepper[s] (scrape the seeds and pith out with a teaspoon) and chop into chunks

Crush your garlic open by squashing with the side of a knife and remove the skin

Add the crushed garlic and chopped pepper to the dish with 1 tsp [1 1/2 tsp] [2 tsp] flour and stir it all together

Add 50ml [65ml] [85ml] boiled water, your soy sauce, mirin, vegetable stock mix, a pinch of sugar and 3/4 of your gochujang paste (can't handle the heat? Go easy!), then, give everything a good mix up and bring to the boil over a high heat

Cover with a lid and put it in the oven for 25 min or until the aubergine wedges are tender

Once the aubergine is in the oven, rinse your sushi rice in a sieve under cold running water for 30 secs (use your hands to really wash the grains!), then set aside to drain fully

Add the drained rice to an oven-proof dish with 250ml [325ml] [500ml] boiled water

Cover tightly with tin foil and put the dish in the oven for 25 min or until all the water is absorbed and the rice is cooked – this is your sticky rice

Bash your cucumber with a rolling pin then chop it into large, bite-sized pieces – this is your smashed cucumber

Rinse your blanched edamame beans under cold running water

Add your rice vinegar, mayo, the remaining gochujang paste (not a fan of spice? Just add a little!), refreshed edamame beans and smashed cucumber to a bowl and mix everything together – this is your gochujang cucumber & edamame salad

Once cooked, remove the aubergine from the oven and leave it to cool (lid on) for 4-5 min (this helps the flavours to develop), then give everything a good mix up – this is your oven-baked Korean-style aubergine