Charred Hispi Cabbage with Curry Sauce
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Charred Hispi Cabbage with Thai Red Curry Sauce, Aubergine Tempura with Lime Glaze, and Burnt Aubergine and Miso Puree
In the cook-off, Gareth drew on his travels across Southeast Asia for a vegetable-forward dish with bold Asian flavours. {name}: "I want to show that I can deliver big flavours and balance, which I think is what I was missing in the last round. I'm doing a Thai red curry as the sauce. It's going to be a burnt aubergine puree. I'm gonna char a hispi cabbage and there'll be a little tempura aubergine disc." On the inspiration: {name}: "I've travelled a lot through Southeast Asia, Thailand, Laos, Vietnam, and it's a cuisine that I really enjoy eating." A judge during cooking: {Judge}: "He's got a Thai red curry sauce: ginger and garlic cooking out with a selection of spices and some chili. He's got an aubergine puree with some miso in it, so lots of strong umami flavours. He's got an aubergine tempura, so you need a nice light, crisp batter with soft cooked aubergine." Another noted: {Judge}: "Using hispi cabbage, charring it and then semi-braising it so it's got a little bit of bite and texture. Fabulous. A perfect ingredient for a dish like this." {Judge}: "It's going to be the Thai curry sauce that brings it all together."
The narrator described the finished dish: Gareth served charred hispi cabbage flavoured with lime and ginger, aubergine tempura with a lime glaze, burnt aubergine and miso puree, and a Thai red curry sauce flavoured with lemongrass, galangal, and chili.
{Judge}: "The cabbage is perfectly cooked. It really is. When I cut into it, I can see the butter just in there. I can see the shine of it coming through. And then to really bring the whole thing together, you've got this beautiful Thai sauce with the right level of heat. You've got the right balance of the lemongrass in there, and it's a beautiful dish." {Judge}: "The charred hispi just drowned in this red curry sauce for me is delightful. And even the aubergine, it doesn't look like much, but a bit of citrus through that tempura cuts through the richness. It's delicious. I really like this." {Judge}: "I love the miso and the burnt aubergine puree. You basted the tempura aubergine with a little glaze. Quite heavy on the lime, but it really is needed against the richness of that sauce. It just brightens the whole dish. I think it's very clever. I like it a lot. Well done." In post-cook discussion: {Judge}: "Gareth gave us the hispi cabbage, charred and glazed with wonderful butter. The red curry sauce had lemongrass and spice in it and it was delicious." {Judge}: "I loved that little lick of sweetness with the lime over the tempura, which was super light. The cabbage was fantastic. I thought it was wonderful." {Judge}: "I think after the four chefs in the cook-off, Gareth's dish was the best." Gareth advanced to the final six.
