When I was a kid, my olds and I used to frequent a dingy but delightful Vietnamese dining joint called Binh Minh, in Richmond’s Victoria St, the ‘Vietnam-town’ of Melbourne. I loved their salt and pepper squid: fried calamari, lightly battered, seared and steaming and dipped in a righteous blend of spicy salts and peppers with a citrus burst at the end – fried shallots tied it all together like a good rug does to a living room. Last time I went to Binh Minh, it had metamorphosed into a raucous karaoke den: well, the upstairs bit at least (perhaps it always had been). At a birthday dinner party, me and my loose chums sang poorly translated Queen and Bon Jovi songs set to bizarre landscape video clips, drunk as skunks on Saigon beer, bursting with delicious salt and pepper squid around a debauched Lazy Susan.
We’ve been salivating over past culinary conquests lately, and thought we’d take a hand at replicating the old Binh Minh favourite – but with a twist. Sourcing decent calamari can be a challenging task here in landlocked Berlin, where bockwurst and meat in tube form reigns supreme. In light of this, we decided to hit up our old veggie pal, the reliable and malleable go-to: Aubergine. While it might be no sea animal, it’s a damn tasty substitute in lieu. Fry them shallots hot and crisp and drizzle all over with a mix of delectable spices, and you’re in flavour town. Just add beer, and karaoke.
- 2 large eggplants, chopped into 2cm square pieces
- 2 spring onions, sliced
- 1 red chilli, finely sliced
- 1 egg, whisked
- 1 garlic clove, finely chopped
- 1 tbsp Chinese five spice
- 2 tbsp of plain flour
- 1 tsp chilli powder
- 1 tsp sea salt
- 1 tsp freshly ground black pepper
- Toasted sesame seeds
- Coriander to garnish
- Vegetable oil to shallow fry
- Mix the Chinese five spice, chilli powder, flour, sesame seeds, salt and pepper together in a bowl.
- Dip each cube of eggplant into the egg, and then into the salt and pepper mixture.
- In a medium size frying pan, one by one, shallow fry each piece until golden and crispy. Place on paper towel when cooked.
- While you are frying the eggplant, heat a small frying pan with a little oil. Add the garlic and spring onion, and fry quickly until the garlic is soft.
- Add the eggplant to a serving plate, top with the hot onion and garlic, a dash of Chinese five spice, salt, pepper, sliced chilli, and a little coriander.
- Serve immediately.
After years of living in gritty share houses—some wonderful, some pitiful—Honor Kennedy and Cam Hassard met each other in one.
Now living together in a Berlin apartment, they reflect on the gritty traditions of their sharehouse past, an homage to all the good bits of shared life—the camaraderie, the community, the meals and the wine.
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