Teriyaki Aubergine With Pickled Cucumber And Brown Rice

Preheat the oven to 200°C/ 180°C (fan)/ gas 6

Rinse your brown rice, add it to a pot with plenty of cold water and bring to the boil over a high heat

Once boiling, reduce the heat to medium and cook for 20-25 min or until it's tender with a slight bite

Once cooked, drain, return it to the pot and keep covered until serving

Slice your aubergine[s] into wedges

Score the aubergine flesh with a sharp knife in a criss-cross pattern, then rub the flesh with a large drizzle of vegetable oil and a pinch of salt

Add the aubergine wedges to a baking tray (or two!) and put in the oven for an initial 20 min

While the aubergine is cooking, cut your red chilli[es] in half lengthways, deseed (scrape the seeds out with a teaspoon) and chop finely

Cut your cucumber in half, scrape out the inner seeds with a teaspoon and discard, then dice the deseeded cucumber

Combine your rice vinegar, chopped chilli (can't handle the heat? Go easy!), diced cucumber and a small pinch of salt in a bowl – this is your quick-pickled cucumber

Meanwhile, peel (scrape the skin off with a teaspoon) and finely chop (or grate) your ginger

Peel and finely chop (or grate) your garlic

Once the aubergine wedges have had an initial 20 min, remove them from the oven and drizzle over your toasted sesame oil

Return the aubergine wedges to the oven for a further 10 min or until very soft

Meanwhile, drain the pickled cucumber, reserve the pickling liquid

Heat a large, wide-based pan (preferably non-stick) with a drizzle of vegetable oil over a medium heat

Once hot, add the chopped garlic and ginger and cook for 1-2 min or until fragrant

Once fragrant, add your soy sauce, agave, cornflour, reserved pickling liquid, 1 tsp [1 1/2 tsp] [2 tsp] sugar and 50ml [75ml] [100ml] water to the pan

Cook for 2 min or until thickened, whisking continuously until smooth

Once thickened, add the softened aubergine wedges to the pan and give everything a gentle mix up – this is your teriyaki aubergine

Fluff the cooked rice with a fork and mix in your black sesame seeds – this is your sesame rice