Eggplant 茄子

[Mindmaxd]

I like cook eggplant with tomatos,that is also yummy,Have a try!!

[abcdefg]

I like cook eggplant with tomatos,that is also yummy

Agree, that's a great flavor combination.

[Mindmaxd]

Before the dish done put some minced garlic,stir a little while and then close the fire,that will make the dish more delicious.

[muyongshi]

Another way is to add a bit of salt and 豆粉 (dou fen) to coat strips of egg plant and then fry in oil (add garlic & 海椒面aka 辣椒粉 to taste) and you get Sichuan 干煸茄子 (dry fried eggplant). Sometimes you can add 豆瓣 as well.

I'm still experimenting to get it exactly right but if anyone's interested I'll try and add more precise instructions later- and maybe a photo.

[roddy]

Muyongshi! Group hug!!!!!!!

[muyongshi]

I'm gonna assume that your emotional response was to the yummyness of my dish not the fact that I have reappeared after years in solitude! (It's good to be back by the way, I missed this community!)

[roddy]

Oh yeah, it was (wipes tear from eye) totally the food. You been chopping onions in here or something?

[muyongshi]

Frying la jiao actually-brings tears and burns the brow.

[skylee]

Welcome back, muyongshi.

[ChTTay]

He couldn't resist all this talk of 茄子!

[muyongshi]

Thanks Skylee! I have successfully hijacked this thread.

[muyongshi]

He couldn't resist all this talk of 茄子!

Exactly! It's where I've been all these years-mastering the art of 川菜 deep in the mountains!

[abcdefg]

I'm still experimenting to get it exactly right but if anyone's interested I'll try and add more precise instructions later- and maybe a photo.

Welcome back and thanks for that eggplant tip. I for one would love to hear more details on this and other Sichuan dishes. I'm a great fan of 川菜。 My (informal) cooking teachers here in Kunming have understandably emphasized Yunnan techniques, but I would like to broaden my horizons.

[muyongshi]

I for one would love to hear more details on this and other Sichuan dishes.

Next time I make it I'll be sure to post a full description.

[skylee]

I don't know how to make this but it is tasty. It is called 煎釀三寶， ie pan fried stuffed eggplant and bell pepper and tofu.

Basically one needs to prepare some minced fish and sliced bell peppers and bigger slices of eggplants. Fill the sliced bell peppers with the minced fish. Cut open the big slices of eggplant in the middle and do the same. Put some corn flour on the surfaces to be filled with the minced fish so that it sticks there. Then fry them till they are done. Don't forget to put lots of pepper in the fish.

This is all theory. I have never made this dish. And I don't know how to prepare the minced fish. IIRC you have to stir it so that it has the right texture. Fish and bell peppers and eggplants sound healthy (as long as you don't use a lot of oil to fry them).

[abcdefg]

Eggplant revisited.

Last night I made the Lao eggplant recipe that @ChTTay gave in post #14. It was really delicious, but presented some unexpected challenges.



Found the long, lighter-colored eggplants, scallions, and pork loin without any problem. Prepped them as suggested.

The most difficult thing was to keep from "Yunnan-ing it up" with all my usual extras. It seems I've developed some bad local cooking habits.

"What, no dried chilies 干辣椒?""
"What, no ginger 姜?"
"What, no aged vinegar 老陈醋?"
"What, no soy sauce 酱油?"
"What, no MSG 味精?"

But I stuck to the recipe, because I wanted to see how this simpler food tasted and enjoy the flavor of the main ingredients unclouded.

My wok is an old one, probably very cheap even a dozen years ago (inherited from my landlord) and made of basic steel, turned black over the years. I had trouble getting the eggplant to become golden brown without sticking. Am thinking this eggplant technique would probably work better in a modern non-stick wok or skillet.

But I really like the plan of cooking the eggplant alone first, setting it aside, and then adding it back after the meat is done.

I followed the order of adding ingredients that @ChTTay had suggested. And he was right. This let the longitudinally sliced scallions retain some of their sweetness and add a very nice touch at the end.

All in all a big success, and I will almost surely make it again. Might try a variation next time, such as adding a chopped tomato, while still holding off on my usual handful of Yunnan seasonings.

[ChTTay]

I primarily use the same technique for cooking eggplant all the time now, mostly because I can make sure I don't over/under cook it. Maybe if i get better at cooking I'll stop doing it... but for now i like this method a lot.

The dish has a real Lao name too but I can't remember what it is ... I would also imagine some locals add MSG to it. They seemed to like MSG down there, probably more than they do here in China. At least most younger people I know don't use it if they cook.

I learned the dish on a cooking course in Luang Prabang for foreigners though so they probably omitted the MSG and whatever else for our sakes.

Anyway, this is a recipe I keep coming back to. Ultra simple and it's pretty hard to get wrong. Sometimes it just tastes 'ok' and other times it's amazing but never bad, at least not for me.

If anyone could share any other eggplant recipes that would be good. From China, I am looking for good 鱼香肉丝 and 鱼香茄子 recipes. I am game to try any eggplant recipe. I have a "eggplant dip" recipe I will share soon!

Edit: I'm glad you liked it!!!

[abcdefg]

I agree that's a good way to cook eggplant and I appreciate your posting it. I sometimes invite guests for dinner, and it's important to have a few dishes like that which are dependable and hard to mess up.

In fact, I made it again tonight, but this time added some chopped tomatoes. Can't really say that it made a big difference in flavor, but it looked a little more colorful.

Even though I realize it's basic, thought I'd take a moment to mention how to clean spring onions. They often have mud on them when bought in the market.

Makes a big mess to wash them. A friend showed me how to just peel some outer layers down towards the bulb and then snap it off, along with the roots.

[LSamuel]

I'm quite a fan of eggplant and today I decided to try the Lao eggplant recipe. It was so quick to make and tasty! As ChTTay wrote, it works well with tofu (my partner and I are both vegetarians).

[abcdefg]

I continue to make eggplant that way too, sometimes with minor variations on the main theme.

 

When I went to the same cooking school in Luang Prabang (Tamarind) that ChTTay mentions earlier this Fall, they didn't teach Lao Eggplant as a main dish, but we made something similar as a dip. We charred the skin of the eggplant on an open coal fire, which added a very pleasant smoky dimension. Also added a dash of ox bile to give it a bitter note.

 

Eggplant remains a staple of my Kunming diet year round. Fortunately they are fresh and inexpensive regardless of the season.