Fried aubergine slices with celery salad and coconut foam

Prepare the ingredients 

Peel and finely dice the shallots and garlic. Peel and thinly slice the ginger. Wash and halve the chilli pepper, then remove the stalk base, white ribs and seeds. Cut the two halves into small rings. Remove the tough outer leaves from the lemongrass and finely slice the lower 10 cm of the inner stalk. 

Make the coconut sauce  

Heat the coconut oil in a pan and sauté the prepped ingredients over a medium heat. Add the spices, coconut milk and vegetable stock, season with salt and bring to the boil. Halve and squeeze the lime. Wash the coriander, shake dry and finely chop. Add both to the pan and simmer the broth over a low heat for about 10 minutes then strain through a sieve. 

Prepare the aubergines 

Trim and peel the aubergines then cut into 3 cm thick slices. Place in a vacuum bag with the coconut sauce and steam in the X BO (100°C/100% humidity) for about 20 minutes. Remove from the bag and leave to cool. Strain off the coconut sauce and set aside. Cut out circles from the aubergine slices with an approx. 4 cm diameter and blend the remaining bits of aubergine and a little hot coconut sauce into a purée. Dry the circles in the X BO (55°C/-100% humidity) for around 2 hours. 

Make the filo pastry crisps 

Melt the butter in a small pan. Coat a pastry sheet with melted butter, place a second one on top and cut out four circles with an approx. 5 cm diameter. Place the circles on the universal tray, cover with a second baking mat and bake in the X BO (140°C/-100% humidity) for about 9 minutes. Halve the coconut and grate the flesh (without any brown skin) onto the crisps. 

Make the lemon gel 

Halve and squeeze the lemon. Place 200 g water, 150 g lemon juice and the clarified sugar syrup in a pan and stir together. Mix in the agar-agar. Bring to the boil, thicken briefly over a low heat and allow to cool again. Blend the mixture into a fine purée.  

Prepare the coconut 

Drill a hole in the coconut and decant the coconut water into a bowl. Halve the coconut, remove the pulp and cut off the brown skin. Set part of the coconut pulp aside for garnishing and finely dice the rest.  

Make the celery salad 

Wash and trim the celery, setting the leaves aside. Peel and dice the stalk. Blanch the diced celery in simmering, lightly salted water. Halve the lime and squeeze the juice. Mix with the coconut water, salt and pepper. Marinate the pieces of coconut and celery in the mixture. Wash and shake dry the coriander, pluck and finely chop the leaves and stir them in. 

Finalise the dish 

Fry the steamed aubergine slices in a little coconut oil on the Tepan or in a non-stick frying pan. Heat the stock. Put the lemon gel into a piping bag. Drape the fried aubergine slices onto the plates and top them with the salad followed by a crisp. Pipe on the lemon gel and aubergine purée. Grate the coconut pulp over the top and garnish with fresh celery leaves. Froth up the coconut sauce using a hand blender and drizzle it around the aubergines. 

Pro tip: clarified sugar syrup is a fast-dissolving sugar syrup with the added benefit of an exquisite taste! To make it, bring 1 l water and 1 kg raw cane sugar to the boil until the sugar has fully dissolved. Remove the syrup from the hob and leave to cool. Use immediately or decant into sterilised bottles, seal tightly and store. This gives clarified sugar syrup an extremely long shelf life.