Salt-and-pepper tofu with braised eggplant

Serves 4 Chinese five-spice With its distinctive flavours of star anise, fennel, cassia, Sichuan pepper and cloves, Chinese five-spice is the perfect foil for fatty meats such as duck or pork. It will often include a few more spices such as coriander, ginger, cardamom or dried orange peel. According to Barbara Tropp in The Modern Art of Chinese Cooking – a book highly regarded as a definitive guide on the nuances of Chinese cuisine – five-spice was based on the proper yin-yang balance of flavours and meant to exemplify the five tastes of sweet, sour, bitter, pungent and salty. You can try using five-spice powder as a dry rub or in a marinade for meat, poultry or fish. It also goes very nicely with tofu, as in the below recipe.

Step-by-step instructions For braised eggplant, halve eggplant crossways then cut lengthways into thick wedges. Heat 2 tbsp vegetable oil in a large saucepan, add eggplant and cook over high heat for 5 minutes or until golden, add garlic and ginger, reduce heat to medium and saut for 2 minutes or until fragrant, add remaining ingredients and 1 cup water and bring to the boil, cover, reduce heat to low and simmer for 40 minutes or until tender.

Cut silken tofu crossways into 1cm slices. Combine flours with pepper, salt and five-spice powder. Heat 6cm oil in a deep frying pan or saucepan to 180C, dust tofu in flour mixture, add to oil and deep-fry for 2 minutes or until golden, drain on an absorbent paper-lined plate and repeat with remaining tofu.

To serve, spoon eggplant among bowls, top with tofu and serve immediately with rice passed separately.