"The three fresh treasures" 地三鲜 -- Aubergine, potatoes, and green bell pepper

[abcdefg]

If you are vegetarian in China, you have doubtless become acquainted with this popular dish. I'm not of that persuasion, but several vegetarian friends have told me it was sufficient to sustain life for their first few weeks here on the Mainland before they had enough vocabulary to explore and branch out.  You could do much worse than a steady diet of this, alternating perhaps with tomatoes and scrambled eggs 番茄炒鸡蛋。Plus of course steamed rice 米饭。

 

地三鲜 di san xian is a simple but glorious combination of eggplant (aubergine), green peppers, and potatoes 茄子，青椒，土豆。It supposedly originated in Shandong and is part of the "Lu Cai" 鲁菜 tradition (one of the "big eight" categories of Chinese cuisine 八大菜系。) It quickly spread throughout China's northeast, however, and is today more commonly thought of as being representative of the food of Dongbei. I've eaten it in Qingdao, Dalian, Beijing, and Harbin, and surely other places that have escaped my memory. 

 

      

 

 

This dish is easy to make at home, and today I'll show you how. Potatoes are abundant now that winter has arrived. In the market yesterday I saw four kinds of white potatoes and three kinds of sweet potatoes. It's difficult to sort them out and choose. What I usually do is tell the seller what I plan to make, and let him recommend the best type. (Reminder: You can click the photos to enlarge them.)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Most recipes call for using roughly equal parts of potatoes and eggplant by weight, or maybe going slightly heavier on the potatoes. Today I used two of each, opting for the long, slender eggplants that grow year round here. Picked up some spring onions 大葱 and a couple green peppers 请教。The pepper lady had red ones for the same price in the adjacent bag, so I bought some of each. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Scrub and peel two potatoes, and cut them up. I used a "rolling cut," but thick slices would also get the job done. Washed and cut the eggplant the same way. No need to remove the skin. 

 

   

 

 

Seeded and coarsely chopped the peppers (these are not at all spicy.) Thawed a cup of bone stock 高汤 that I had frozen in a big batch one rainy weekend in late summer. (If you don't have stock on hand, you can use bouillon or chicken extract -- 鲜鸡汁。)

 

   

 

 

Minced a couple cloves of garlic 大蒜, a piece of ginger 老姜，and slivered one large spring onion 大葱。Ready now to rock and roll. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I used a deep non-stick skillet 不粘平底锅, but could just as well have used my wok. Poured three or four tablespoons of oil into the cold pan and heated it up about three quarters hot 七八热。Fried the potatoes until they developed some golden color 变金黄色 and got soft enough to easily pierce with a chopstick. That took between 8 and 10 minutes. 

 

   

 

 

Lifted the potatoes out into a pan on the counter top. Save for later 备用。

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Started frying the eggplant, using the same oil. Kept the temperature medium to medium high, tossing them more or less nonstop 翻炒。When they developed a rich golden color and were soft enough to easily pierce with a chopstick, I knew they were ready and scooped them out into a bowl. It took 6 or 8 minutes. Don't overcook them, since they will get some more heat later when all the ingredients are put together. 

 

   

 

 

Potatoes and eggplant are both cooked now, but not overdone. Ready to meet other flavors.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Put the minced ginger in the hot skillet and give it a 15 or 20 second head start before adding the minced garlic. (Garlic cooks quicker.) Add the red and green peppers and stir fry them with the aromatic spices. Saute them until they begin to soften. Add back the potatoes and eggplant. 

 

   

 

 

Cook everything together a few minutes while adding dry seasonings: a scant teaspoon of salt, a dash of white pepper, a sprinkle of sugar, MSG if you use it (I use 1/4 teaspoon of it.) Then put in the (thawed) liquid stock 高汤, a tablespoon of light soy sauce 生抽 and a tablespoon of cooking wine 料酒。Add the spring onions; stir it well a minute or two and allow the flavors time to blend and let most of the liquid be absorbed.  

 

   

 

 

At this point add a small amount of corn starch thickener 水淀粉。I always make this in advance with a teaspoon of corn starch 生粉 and two tablespoons of water, mixed well together into a suspension. This holds all the flavors together 勾芡 and produces a tasty gravy. Boil for half a minute more, and you're done.  Serve it up 装盘。Dig in 动筷子。Can be served as a vegetable side dish to complement a simple meat such as roast chicken or it can be a vegetarian main dish (hold the stock.) Goes well with steamed rice.

 

 

 

 

 

[somethingfunny]

Can I give this more than one like?

 

Great work @abcdefg.

 

Two questions:

1. Do you find the aubergine starts to discolour if you chop it and then leave it  before cooking?

2. How much oil is left after the potatoes have fried?  Do the aubergines soak it all up?  Would you add any more?  The one problem I have with this dish is how oily it potentially is.

 

(Also, you've written 请教 rather than 青椒.)

[abcdefg]

Thank you @somethingfunny. And I also appreciate your catching the typo. I went back and fixed it. 

 

The aubergine does start to discolor when exposed to air, but in this dish it doesn't really matter. Normally, it's the last thing I cut up, exactly because of that tendency. 

 

Ah, the oil issue. You're absolutely right, this dish can easily become oily. Part of why I used a non-stick pan instead of my steel wok is so I can use less oil overall. Those darned eggplants are really thirsty for oil; they slurp it up like crazy. I don't give them any extra. 

 

Sometimes when I make this I cook the potatoes and the green peppers together. Just start the potatoes first since they take a little longer. Then cook the eggplant last, adding the wet and dry seasonings after all three main ingredients are together. 

 

I've seen recipes (but have not tried them) in which one first steams the eggplant, then just combines it with the other two ingredients in an effort to produce a low fat version. At the other end of the spectrum, in restaurant kitchens here they often deep fry each of the three main components separately and then just combine them with a sauce. 

 

Glad you liked it!

 

 

[anonymoose]

One of my favourite dishes, and one of my staples when I used to live in Dalian. There's nothing like this, a 番茄炒蛋 and a 锅包肉. (Actually I used to like 菠萝鸡片 even more, but this doesn't seem to be a regular or standard dish.)

[somethingfunny]

36 minutes ago, abcdefg said:

I've seen recipes (but have not tried them) in which one first steams the eggplant, then just combines it with the other two ingredients in an effort to produce a low fat version. 

 

That's how I cook 鱼香茄子 and it seems to work pretty well.

 

It's going to be pretty difficult for me not to cook this 地三鲜 this weekend...

[abcdefg]

On 11/23/2018 at 6:55 PM, somethingfunny said:

It's going to be pretty difficult for me not to cook this 地三鲜 this weekend...

 

Don't struggle against the urge. Give in and do it! Let us know how it works out when steaming the eggplant. (I'd like to try it that way myself next time.)

[ChTTay]

My girlfriend, like all restaurants, makes this by deep frying as well. Not so healthy but very good! 

 

Your version is a nice midway between steaming things and full on deep fat frying. 

 

Those light purple eggplants arent always around here in Beijing but I prefer them to the other kinds - long, dark purple and  the round ones. 

[Alex_Hart]

A beautiful looking recipe, abcd! I'm feeling a similar urge to somethingfunny. 

 

In terms of the oil issue when cooking eggplant, I don't have an easy answer for the Chinese kitchen. However, I sometimes roast the eggplant in the oven before adding it to this dish. I know it isn't authentic, but I've always been bothered by oily eggplant and roasting lets me use a lot less oil and still get a nice texture. Obviously more work and not possible for most people in China.