Red Cooked Eggplant
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Red Cooked Eggplant
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Introduction
Red Cooked Eggplant (Simplified Chinese: 红烧茄子; Traditional Chinese: 紅燒茄子; Pinyin: Hong Shao Qie Zi;), The eggplant is grilled until crispy and smoky, and then cooked in a rich savory garlic sauce. This vegan dish is very satisfying, both as a side or a main dish served over rice or noodles.
Eggplant is a very tricky vegetable to cook. If you don’t season it properly, it will taste bitter or extremely plain. If you use too little oil, the texture will be mushy and create an awful mouthfeel. If you use too much oil, the eggplant might turn soggy and greasy.
Origin
The “Fish-Flavored” refers to the combination: salty+sweet+sour+spicy+garlic+ginger+green onion. Don’t worry – the sauce doesn’t taste fishy, nor the does the recipe contain any fish at all. It’s a sauce that goes GREAT with many Sichuan fish dishes – thus the funny translated name.[1]
Eggplant is one of those vegetables that almost begs for strong, pungent spices and sauces. And one of the most popular vegetable dishes in Sichuan cooking is "fish-fragrant eggplant", an unfortunate literal translation of the Chinese name ( yuxiang qiezi) without the cultural nuance. You see, it doesn't actually smell or taste like fish. Rather, the name refers to method of preparation usually associated with fish in Sichuan cuisine that results in hot, sour, salty, and sweet flavors all co-mingling on the plate.[2]
Prep Time: 10 mins
Cook Time: 10 mins
Total Time: 20 mins
Servings: 2-4
Difficult: easy
Recipes
Ingredients
3 oriental eggplant, quartered lengthwise
1 cup olive oil
1 long red chilli, sliced
5 garlic cloves, chopped
½ red onion chopped
2 tbsp white sugar
1 tbsp shrimp paste
2 tbsp chilli bean paste
2 star anise
1 tbsp tomato paste
3 tbsp soy sauce
2 tbsp rice wine vinegar
2 tbsp beef stock
garlic chives
½ bunch coriander, chopped
Instructions
Submerge eggplant in a bowl filled with ice water for 5 minutes. Meanwhile, heat oil in a 14″ flat-bottomed wok over medium-high heat. Drain eggplant, dry thoroughly with paper towels, and add all to the oil. Cook until just soft and golden, about 3 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, transfer eggplant to a bowl lined with paper towel and set aside.
Discard all but ¼ cup oil in wok; return to medium heat. Add garlic, red onion and chilli. Season with salt and pepper and fry for one to two minutes or until onion just begins to soften. Stir through sugar. Add shrimp paste, bean paste, tomato paste, star anise, soy sauce, rice wine vinegar and stock. Bring to the boil.
Transfer eggplant back to the wok. Stir through garlic chives and coriander.[3]
Transfer to a plate and serve.