Dinner Tonight: Steamed Spicy Eggplant
My previous experimentation with eggplants scorched them on an iron skillet to create this wonderful smokey baba ghanoush, so I was a little worried about the gentle steaming I was in for with these guys. Well, only slightly worried considering Jean-Georges Vongerichten penned the recipe. This comes from his Asian Flavors of Jean-Georges. I jumped on it because it’s one of the very few recipes in the book that could be done fairly quickly and without thirty ingredients.
There was only one ingredient I couldn’t find. The recipe calls for Shaoxing wine, but my humble Mid-West wine store didn’t have any idea what I was talking about. I wasn't sure quite what to do, so I did what I would normally do for a wine I couldn't find: I used vermouth. I’m pretty sure the characteristics didn’t match up, but you can’t really deny the majesty of these eggplants. Just after a quick dip in this sauce, they picked up this wonderful depth and heat. It’s quite different than the scorched skin method, and a vast improvement over this Jacques Pepin recipe I tried last year.
About the author: Nick Kindelsperger is a co-founder of The Paupered Chef, a blog dedicated to saving time and money while enjoying food in every way possible. He sells wine for a living and lives in Columbus, Ohio.
Steamed Spicy Eggplant
- serves 3-4 -
Adapted from Asian Flavors of Jean-Georges by Jean-Georges Vongerichten
Ingredients
1 pound Japanese eggplants, stems removed
1 teaspoon peanut oil
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 scallion, thinly sliced
1 tablespoon chili paste
1 1/4 teaspoons sugar
3 tablespoon soy sauce
1 tablespoon sesame oil
2 1/2 teaspoons rice vinegar
1 tablespoon dry vermouth
Procedure
1. Bring a large pot of water to boil.
2. Slice the eggplants in half lengthwise. And then cut those pieces in half crosswise.
3. When ready, set a steamer basket or some device above the boiling water. Toss in the eggplants and cook until very tender, about 10 minutes.
4. While that’s cooking, heat the oil in a skillet over medium-high heat. Toss in the garlic and cook 4 minutes or until golden brown. Remove the garlic to a large bowl.
5. Add the scallion, chili paste, sugar, soy sauce, sesame oil, rice vinegar, and vermouth to the large bowl. Mix until combined.
6. When the eggplant is done, toss in the large bowl and gently toss together. Serve while warm.
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6 Comments:
This looks like a cool recipe to try!
FYI- Shaoxing wine is a cooking wine that you can find in most Chinese or Asian food stores.
stuffedofu at 6:13PM on 05/16/08
That sauce sounds great. I bet you could use it for many other applications.
wunami at 3:29PM on 05/17/08
There is the clear and the dark Shaoxing wine...use the dark.
Spicy eggplant is a great dish. I cook it often.
When I make it, I first brown about 1/3 cup of ground pork with garlic, soy sauce,1 T.hoisin, 1 T oyster sauce and a bit of salt. Pour off the excess oil and add it into the the steamed eggplant mixture. Serve over steamed rice.
It's excellent.
cher128 at 6:28PM on 05/17/08
Oooo...This kind of seems like a dish I had at Garlic Jo's in newport beach. Great place if you're a garlic fan! I'll definitely have to try this out.
cjingram at 8:42AM on 05/19/08
The usual substitute for Shaoxing wine is dry sherry.
SqueezeBottle at 12:19AM on 08/11/08
If you don't have chili paste, can you use something else - like. . . um. . . sriracha sauce or Korean chili paste?!
PattyCho at 12:51AM on 08/12/08