Smashed Eggplant
茄泥
English: Smashed Eggplant
Chinese: 茄泥
Pinyin: qie ni
Qie ni is a useful recipe to have up your sleeve - a quick vegetarian dish that’s perfect for using up eggplants. You can get away with using those slightly shrivelled up ones that have been sitting in the fridge for a few weeks here. I often whip up qie ni when I’ve realised I’m a dish too short for dinner - after the steaming, it can be on the table in five minutes.
It’s similar to the Middle Eastern dish baba ganoush, but replacing the smokiness with a big punch of garlic and creaminess from the sesame sauce. Similar to baba ganoush, it’s a great dip alongside some Xinjiang barbecued lamb, fresh cucumbers, tomatoes and radishes, or to plunge Chinese pancakes into. As is often the case with Chinese dinner tables, there are few rules when it comes to pairing - just stick it in the middle and see what people do.
Serves 3 - 4
Ingredients
2 eggplants
6 garlic cloves - finely chopped
2 tablespoons Chinese sesame paste
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 teaspoon sesame oil
1 teaspoon sugar
Pinch of salt - into paste
2 green onion - chopped
Method
Slice eggplants in half and score them in a cross-cross pattern, without pushing the knife through the skin underneath.
Steam for 20 minutes and then leave to cool.
Whilst the eggplants are steaming, make the sauce. First, add the Chinese sesame paste into a small bowl. Slowly add about 2 tablespoons of water, a tiny bit at a time, stirring constantly. The sesame paste will be stubbornly firm at first, but eventually it will loosen up. You might need a bit more, or less, water, you want the consistency of a blitzed soup. Add a pinch of salt and stir in.
In a separate larger bowl, add the finely chopped garlic, soy sauce, sesame oil and sugar. Mix until the sugar dissolves.
Scrape the flesh of the eggplant into the soy sauce mixture. A bit of skin here and there is fine, as is any liquid from the eggplants. With a pair of chopsticks (or fork), stir the eggplant into the soy sauce until it’s a chunky paste.
Pour in the sesame sauce and keep stirring. Then pour into your serving bowl and sprinkle over the green onion.
