Chinese Eggplant With Ginger And Scallions Recipes

CHINESE EGGPLANT

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 425 degrees.
• Place the eggplant on a baking sheet, and prick them in several places with a fork to allow steam to escape. Pour 1 tablespoon of the vegetable oil into your hands, and rub the eggplant. Roast them until soft, for 30 to 40 minutes, turning once halfway through the cooking. Remove from the oven, and set aside until the eggplant are cool enough to handle.
• When cool, cut off the stems, and peel the eggplant. Place the pulp in a food processor, and process until smooth. Set aside.
• Heat the remaining vegetable oil, along with the sesame oil, in a skillet over medium-high heat. Add the garlic, ginger, scallions and red-pepper flakes; cook quickly, stirring constantly, for 1 minute.
• In a small bowl, whisk together the soy sauce, brown sugar and vinegar. Add to the skillet, and bring to a boil. Stir in the eggplant, and simmer for 3 minutes. Remove from the heat, and stir in the lemon juice and cilantro. Serve warm, at room temperature or chilled.

CHINESE EGGPLANT WITH GINGER AND SCALLIONS

Steps:

• 1. Preheat the grill to medium high heat. Peel the eggplants and cut on the diagonal into 1/4-inch slices. Brush the slices with sesame oil and grill over medium heat for 2 minutes per side or until golden brown. The recipe can be prepared up to 24 hours ahead to this stage. 2. For the sauce, combine the soy sauce, rice wine, vinegar, sugar, and cornstarch in a small bowl and stir to mix. 3. Heat a wok (preferably non-stick) over a high flame. Swirl in the canola oil. Add the garlic, ginger, scallion whites, and chilies and stir fry for 10 seconds or until fragrant but not brown. Add the eggplant and stir fry for 1 minute. Stir the sauce and add it to the eggplant. Bring the mixture to a boil; the sauce should thicken. Transfer the eggplant to a platter or bowl and sprinkle with scallion greens. The eggplant can be served hot or cold as an appetizer or vegetable side dish. This rendition calls for grilling the eggplant, which imparts a smoky flavor in addition to dramatically reducing the fat.

ROASTED EGGPLANT WITH SICHUAN-STYLE PORK

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F with a rack set on the middle shelf.
• Use a sharp paring knife to lightly score the flesh of each eggplant 6 to 8 times. Place the on a baking sheet and toss with 2 tablespoons of the oil and season liberally with salt and pepper. Place the eggplant, cut-side down, and bake until the eggplant starts to soften and the skin starts to brown, about 15 minutes. Use a large offset spatula to gently flip the eggplant over and bake until the flesh is completely softened and light golden brown, about 15 more minutes.
• Meanwhile, make the pork: Heat the remaining oil over medium-high heat in a large saute pan. Add the pork and 1/4 teaspoon salt. Cook, breaking up the meat, until lightly browned and no longer pink, about 5 minutes. Add the scallion whites, garlic and ginger and cook for 2 minutes, stirring constantly. Stir in the chili-garlic sauce, soy sauce, vinegar, 1/2 cup water and half of the scallion greens. Simmer over medium-low heat for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.
• To serve, spoon the pork over the roasted eggplant and garnish with the remaining scallion greens. Serve with steamed rice.

GOCHUJANG-GLAZED EGGPLANT WITH FRIED SCALLIONS

Steps:

• Place the eggplant in a colander set inside a large bowl or the sink. Sprinkle with the salt, toss to combine and let sit for 30 minutes to remove excess moisture.
• Meanwhile, in a small bowl, add the gochujang, soy sauce, brown sugar, sesame oil and garlic. Whisk to combine, then set aside.
• To a large nonstick skillet, add the olive oil and the white parts of the scallions. Turn the heat to medium and fry the scallions, stirring often, until crispy and evenly browned, about 8 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, transfer the fried scallions onto a paper towel.
• Reserve a small handful of raw scallion greens for garnish, then fry the remaining scallion greens in the oil until crispy and lightly browned, 3 to 5 minutes. Transfer fried scallion greens onto a paper towel.
• Remove the skillet from the heat and carefully pour the hot scallion oil into a glass container or measuring cup.
• After the 30 minutes of salting, dry the eggplant segments with a paper towel. Place the skillet over medium-high heat and add 2 tablespoons of the reserved scallion oil.
• When the oil starts to shimmer and you see a wisp of smoke, add half the eggplant, cut sides down, and fry until browned and starting to soften, 2 to 3 minutes. Flip once and cook another minute on the other side. Transfer to a plate, add 2 more tablespoons of scallion oil back to the pan, and repeat to fry the second batch of eggplants. (If you are lucky enough to have any scallion oil left, use it to fry eggs or to dress a salad.)
• Finally, sauce the eggplants: Add the first batch of eggplants back to the pan alongside the second batch. Reduce the heat to medium-low and pour the reserved gochujang sauce over the eggplants. Toss until evenly coated and the gochujang starts to caramelize, about 1 minute.
• Plate the eggplants on a large platter and garnish with the fried scallions and the reserved raw scallion greens. Serve immediately. (To store for later, transfer to a resealable container and keep in the refrigerator for 3 to 5 days. This dish tastes great cold, straight out of the fridge, or at room temperature.)