Garlic-Dressed Eggplant
蒜泥茄子
Use the punchiest, spiciest garlic you can find. This dish is going to keep vampires away from you for days, but it’s delicious and moreish in the sweltering summer months of Beijing. This is a ‘cold dish’ meaning it’s not served hot, but don’t serve it fridge-cold either. If you make it ahead of time, bring it back to room temperature before serving.
The best version of this dish I’ve ever had used scored baby eggplants steamed whole and then stuffed into a small pot with the dressing, but the little eggplants are not always easy to come by so I’ve given this version for the home cook that’s not up for hunting around every farmer’s market in the area.
The eggplant won’t have much flavour by itself so make sure the dressing is packed full of flavour - spicy, salty, toasty and more garlic that you think. This is Northern cooking at its finest, although you might question why spice is here. Yes, chilli does not usually find its way into northern cooking, but over the years, they have borrowed many an ingredients from spicer provinces. Sichuan peppercorns do not grow in the North, and yet, they are used occasionally in Northern dishes, as are red chillies. The North will never make something mouth-blowingly hot, but they might sneak a few spices in for a nice bit of warmth.
Serves 3-4 as a side
Ingredients
For the dough
1-2 Chinese/Japanese eggplants (about 250-300g)
2 tablespoons white rice vinegar
Salt
For the dressing
2 red chillies - deseeded and finely chopped
2 tablespoons green onion - chopped
6 cloves garlic - finely chopped
1 tablespoon - white sesame seeds
2 tablespoon oil
1 tablespoon - green chilli - finely chopped
4 teaspoons light soy sauce
1 teaspoon oyster sauce
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons white sugar
1 teaspoon sesame oil
1 teaspoon black rice vinegar
Method
Cut the stalk off the eggplant and then cut into 3-inch pieces. Cut the pieces lengthways, so they’re in half, and then cut into half lengthways again and again so you have batons.
Add the eggplant to a bowl of cold water mixed with the vinegar and leave for five minutes or so.
In a steamer, steam the eggplants for 10-15 minutes or until soft but not quite mushy, then remove and leave to cool. Lightly salt the eggplants once cooled.
Make the dressing. In a heatproof bowl, add the red chillies, green onions, garlic and sesame seeds. Heat the oil up until smoking, then pour over the mix. The ingredients should sizzle as the oil hits them, and that will cook them.
Next, add all the other ingredients and give it a stir until the sugar has dissolved.
Toss the eggplants in the dressing and leave to marinate for twenty minutes or so. The longer you leave it, the better it will taste, so feel free to make it a few hours ahead of time.
To serve, remove the eggplant batons and layer them into a bowl, then pour over the dressing.