How to Make Asian-Style Moussaka (Low-Carb)
My friends from church, Jana and Petros, invited me to their place for lunch and served such an amazing moussaka that I was determined to attempt it myself. In this Twitch Live Asian Kitchen, I “asianised” the dish through the use of Asian sauces and seasoning ingredients, AND I served it with a healthy dose of SateBoyz Vietnamese Sate Chilli Sauce.
Furthermore, while the original moussaka recipe relayed to me by Jana was hardly what you would consider high-carb, I nonetheless lowered the carb content further by replacing the white sauce (key ingredient – plain flour), with melted cream cheese plus cream.
Asian-Style Moussaka
INGREDIENTS:
1 ½ kg eggplant, cut into 1 ½ cm slices
500g lamb mince
3 Tbsps minced garlic
1 onion, peeled and diced
1 ½ Tbsps oyster sauce
½ Tbsp soya sauce or fish sauce
½ Tbsp chicken powder
½ tsp pepper
¼ cup fried shallots
½ cup diced tomatoes
1 cup shredded mozarella
⅓ cup grated parmesan
¼ cup oil
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Low-Carb White Sauce Ingredients –
1 cup thick cream
125g cream cheese
1 egg yolk
½ cup water
½ tsp white pepper
½ tsp salt
METHOD:
- Make the white sauce by combining all the ingredients in a food processor and blending them into a paste. Transfer into a saucepan and cook until thickened. (You can do this in a Thermocook or Thermomix if available).
- Dip the eggplant slices in oil, then pan-fry or airfry until lightly browned.
- Heat 1 Tbsp oil in saucepan, add garlic and saute until aromatic. Add onion and caramelise.
- Add minced lamb and brown. Add oyster sauce, soya or fish sauce, chicken powder and pepper; stir to mix.
- Add diced tomatoes and fried shallots and cook to a thick consistency.
- Line a non-stick baking tray with a layer of overlapping eggplant slices.
- Spread with one third of the mince mixture followed by some white sauce.
- Repeat twice, then spread the top layer with grated cheese and parmesan.
- Bake in a pre-heated oven at 180C for 20 minutes (10 mins if using an airfryer).
I split the recipe into 3 smaller batches and baked them in my Optimum HealthyFry airfryer, which sped up the baking process considerably; more information on this unit can be found at www.prestigehomeappliances.com.au.