Weekend Wokking with Eggplant

Eggplant is one of those vegetables that I’m very particular about. I’m not a big fan of those oversized specimens often found in the grocery store. There are two reasons. First, they are usually tasteless. Second, the proportion of skin to pulp is wrong—there just isn’t enough skin. The pulp just cooks up to a pile of mush. That may be okay if I’m making a dip or baby food but completely useless when I’m trying to stir-fry. That’s why I stick to the small Thai or long Chinese varieties for Asian cooking.


This eggplant stir-fry is a very popular dish found in Thai restaurants across the US, but I don't remember mom ever making it at home. I'll have to ask her why that is because it turns out to be quite easy to throw together and packs a flavorful punch. And my version is far less oily than what's found in most restaurants.

The key to this dish is the Thai black soy sauce. And just to confuse you, it may also be called "dark soy sauce" or "dark thick soy sauce" or "dark sweet soy sauce". This "dark sweet soy sauce" should not be confused with the "real" sweet soy sauce, which is also dark. LOL

Anyhow, there are two popular brands, Healthy Boy or Dragonfly. I like the Healthy Boy brand. I was only familiar with their mushroom soy sauce, but I've recently discovered they have a whole line of soy sauces available and the ones I've tried are all good. Mom uses the Dragonfly brand. To me it tastes a little too strongly of molasses.

Note: In Martin Yan’s Chinatown Cooking (see right sidebar), he explains that the best way to prepare Chinese eggplant is to first oil blanch it, which results in an intense and concentrated eggplant flavor. This is a very common practice in Asian restaurants (and is often used with green beans), but I can’t be bothered to do it at home. I find briefly steaming the vegetable to be a little more manageable. Steaming will soften the vegetable a little and cuts back on the stir-frying time. You can decide which you prefer.

Thai Eggplant Stir-fry with Chicken
Serves 3-4

• 2 long Chinese eggplants, cut lengthwise into quarters and then into 2 to 3 inch segments
• 3 chicken thighs, roughly hand minced
• 3 large cloves garlic, minced
• ½ bunch Thai sweet basil, leaves only
• chillies to taste, cut in half lengthwise (optional)
• 1 ½ tbs Thai black soy sauce
• 2 tbs thin soy sauce (or 1 tbs regular soy sauce, such as Kikkoman)
• ½ tsp brown sugar
• ½ tsp fish sauce + more to adjust flavor to taste

Start by preparing the eggplants. Prepare a steamer and steam the eggplants for about 5 minutes. They should begin to soften but still feel spongy. Remove them from the steamer to cool a bit. You could even steam them the day before and store them in the fridge until ready to use.

Alternatively, the eggplant can be oil blanched. Heat enough oil to deep fry the eggplant. The oil should be hot enough for deep frying, about 350º. Make sure the eggplant is completely dry before introducing them to the oil and do not crowd them. Fry until they get a bit soft (not mushy!), about 1 ½ to 2 minutes. Drain them well.

Mix the minced garlic and minced chicken in a small bowl and set aside. Make the sauce by combining the black soy sauce, thin soy sauce, fish sauce and brown sugar. Stir to dissolve.

Heat a wok over high heat. When it’s hot, add about 2 tbs oil (peanut, grapeseed, or vegetable). When the oil begins to smoke, add the chicken and chillies, if using, and stir-fry until almost done, about 2 minutes. Do not over stir the meat; give it about 20 to 30 seconds between each stir to get a proper sear. Add the eggplant and basil. Again, don’t over stir. Let the eggplant sear a little as well. Add the sauce mix and stir to coat the meat and vegetables. When it’s all heated through, it’s done. Transfer immediately to a serving bowl or plate and serve with steamed jasmine rice.

This is my submission for this month's Weekend Wokking hosted by Palachinka. If you're interested in hosting or want to see who's hosting in the future, check out this page.

SE Asian Pilaf

Hey, guess what?! I like delicious food and I bet you do too, right? I don’t care if it’s *authentic* or not. I’ll be the first to admit, I don't cook authentic food. It's not that I can't, I just like experimenting (I'm a woman of science, didn't you know?). As long as it tastes good, I’m happy. I guess this must really drive the purists out there crazy (hi, mom!).

This picture really doesn't do this rice justice. The herbs make it so fragrant and the shrimp paste gives it so much flavor. You'll just have to try it for yourself to see.

Since I’m in a bit of a mood, I’m going to make those purists really nuts with this recipe for SE Asian rice pilaf. It’s not really a classic Thai dish, but has classic Thai flavors. I could have called it fried rice, but when I think of fried rice, I think one-wok meal, complete with protein and vegetables. This is more of a side dish— a pilaf to accompany grilled fish or chicken. It’s also good for breakfast served with a fried egg on top and a couple squirts of fish sauce. And yes, I’m completely serious about the breakfast thing. So there you go, something that’s not authentic but totally delicious anyways.

SE Asian Rice Pilaf
Serves 4

• 1 stalk lemongrass, white part only, finely sliced
• 2-3 cloves garlic, smashed
• 3 kaffir lime leaves, finely sliced
• 1 to 2 tbs shrimp paste in soy bean oil
• 1 shallot, thinly sliced
• ½ tsp brown sugar
• 24 oz cooked, cold rice (about 5 cups)
• fish sauce, to taste

Note: Shrimp paste in soy bean oil can be found at any Asian market that has SE Asian items. Or you can order it online. It's not fermented, which means it's not stinky, but the oil has a way of leaking out and staining stuff red-orange, so be sure to store it in a plastic Ziploc bag or similar. Don't let the fact that it contains the "buttery substance in shrimp heads" turn you off. You wouldn't have known if no one had mentioned it. :-)

In a mortar, combine the lemongrass, garlic and kaffir lime leaves and pound until you get a uniform paste. Put some elbow grease into it, otherwise the lemongrass won't break down enough and it'll be unpleasant to chew and swallow. Transfer the paste to a bowl and mix in the shrimp paste.

Heat a wok on medium-high heat. Add about 2 tbs oil for stir-frying. When hot, but not smoking, add the seasoning paste and the shallots. Stir-fry for about 30 seconds to release the flavor of the herbs. Be careful not to let the paste burn. Add the brown sugar and incorporate. Add the rice and stir-fry until well coated with the seasoning paste and heated through. Add fish sauce to taste. Serve as a side dish with simple grilled fish or chicken.

Weekend Wokking with Tomatoes!

And I thought the potato was hard to deal with, but in a way, the tomato is even harder!

As of this post, this lone tomato is the only one I've been able to harvest from my garden. Soon enough, I'll be rolling in tomatoes.

Oh, I could think of a million things to do with it, but most of them don’t involve cooking, at least not this time of year. Right now, the most appealing thing I can think of is to pick a sweet little sungold off the vine and pop it in my mouth. However, that wouldn’t make a very interesting post and since I’m hosting Weekend Wokking this month, I thought it’d look better if I actually made something. As luck would have it, I found a recipe in my Food of Thailand book (see right side bar) that looked interesting and for which I had all the ingredients. I love when that happens.

I’m no history expert, but I’m pretty sure the tomato is not native to Thailand and is not widely used in Thai cooking. However, it makes an appearance in a few dishes, such as som tom, hot and sour soup, and Thai-style sweet and sour pork. It seems to be more widely used in Thai restaurants here in the States, where I’ve seen it served in fried rice and even pad kee mao. I’m not a purist, so I don’t mind at all.

The one thing to consider about stir-frying tomatoes is the ripeness of the tomato. I prefer to use harder tomatoes. In fact, those picked-before-their-peak, store-bought tomatoes usually work well because they have firm flesh. They will soften without dissolving, if you know what I mean. Using riper tomatoes will give the stir-fry a little more of a tomato-y sauce. It’s all a matter of preference, really.

I should also talk a little about the other ingredients in this dish because they are special as well. The first is Thai eggplant. Most of you have probably encountered these before. For those who haven’t, it’s a small round fruit (vegetable??) with an eggplant flavor. Usually the green and white ones are available, but there are some that are completely white and even some purple ones. These varieties have a lot of little seeds, but they are completely edible. I think they give a pleasant crunch to the dish, kind of like fish eggs on the outside of a sushi roll. Unlike it’s bigger, more familiar relative the purple eggplant, it is less spongy. Some people may find that steaming Thai eggplants for 5 to 10 minutes (depending on size) gives a nice soft texture. Usually I’m too impatient to do this. I just cut them into quarters and add them to the food, allowing an additional 5 to 10 minutes to cook. If you can’t find Thai eggplants, you could certainly use the more familiar purple kind or the Chinese purple eggplants. The only difference to the dish would be the texture.



The other ingredient is Chinese black vinegar. Often I see recipes say that balsamic vinegar can be used as a substitution. I would be hesitant to use balsamic though. The Chinese vinegar is a lot sweeter and much less acidic than balsamic. It’s also made of rice and not grapes. I suppose in a pinch you could use balsamic, but use less to account for the acidity.

Now for the dish…it’s tasty! I’m not saying that to be snobby. I was actually quite surprised. It was the first time I’d made it, and I was a little nervous scanning over the list of ingredients. I mean, two tablespoons each of palm sugar and Chinese black vinegar??!! I figured it would be way too sweet, but it turned out wonderfully balanced, both in flavor and texture. The flavor of the ginger comes through nicely too. For this particular dish I used firm cherry tomatoes, which I left whole. They held up to the stir-frying quite well, not tearing and releasing their juices. The result was an explosion of sweet tomato flavor with each bite. Just be sure to let the stir-fry cool slightly otherwise you’ll get a very hot explosion of flavor! If you want a saucier stir-fry, try cutting up the tomatoes.

BTW, the chicken is totally optional in this dish. I added simply because I had some to use.



Spicy Thai Eggplant and Cherry Tomato Stir-fry
adapted from The Food of Thailand
serves 3 to 4 adults

• ¾ pound Thai eggplant, cut into halves
• roughly ½ pound cherry tomatoes
• 2 tbs fish sauce, plus a couple of splashes to prepare the eggplant
• 2 tbs Chinese black vinegar
• 2 tbs palm sugar (or 1 tbs brown sugar)
• 1 tsp to 1 tbs sambal oelek (this completely depends on your tolerance for heat)
• 1 tbs minced ginger
• 1 shallot, minced
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 chicken breast or two thighs, thinly sliced for stir-frying (optional)

I normally don’t pre-cook my Thai eggplants, but I did this time, so I recommend you doing it. Toss the eggplant halves with a couple splashes of fish sauce and steam them for 5 minutes or so, until they soften a bit. You don’t want them to be mush. When done, remove them to the side until needed.

While the eggplant is steaming, make the sauce by combining the fish sauce, vinegar and sugar in a small bowl. Stir to dissolve the sugar.

In another small bowl, combine the sambal, ginger, shallot and garlic. These will go in the wok at the same time, so it’s just as easy to put them together ahead of time.

Heat your wok over high heat until very hot. Add about 2 tbs oil and when that begins to smoke, add the chicken. Stir-fry it for about a minute or two, just until it’s almost done. Remove to a bowl.

Add more oil to your wok if necessary. Throw in the sambal mix and stir-fry until fragrant, about 20 seconds or so. Make sure it doesn’t burn. You’ll know your doing it right if you start to cough on account of the chili hitting the wok. ☺

Throw in the eggplants and tomatoes. Combine with the sambal mix, but don’t over stir or you’ll break the tomatoes. Once the vegetables appear to soften slightly (about 2 minutes), add the chicken back in. Toss a little, then add the sauce mix by drizzling it down the sides of your wok. It should caramelize fairly quickly due to the sugar content. Coat the chicken and vegetables with the sauce and once the chicken is cooked through, you’re done! Remove to a plate, immediately, but allow it to cool for about 5 minutes before digging in.

Serve with steamed jasmine rice.

If you’re interested in participating in Weekend Wokking, there’s still time! Send me your entries before midnight on the last day of the month. If you can’t make this round, check out whose hosting in the future. And check out Wandering Chopsticks; she’s the one that started it all.

Added: Check out the round-up!

The Secret Ingredient

When most people think of Thai flavors, the first thing that comes to mind is probably fish sauce. Or maybe lemongrass, kaffir lime leaves and galangal. Rarely do people think cilantro roots. They're under-recognized by many, probably because they are rarely ever listed as an ingredient on menus in Thai restaurants. Funny because they're used in just about every Thai curry paste as well as in stir-fries and soups.

The best cilantro roots to use for a stir-fry are the thinner ones. They break down easiest. The fatter roots are good for soups, where they can be used mostly whole and easily fished out (like lemongrass).

I can't accurately describe the taste of cilantro roots. They're not as peppery as a parsnip or turnip. They've got a bit of the cilantro taste, but not the same level of freshness you'd get from the leaves or even stem. Maybe they taste a little like celeriac, but not quite. For sure the flavor they contribute is subtle- most people would be hard-pressed to identify it- but they add an extra level of complexity to the end result. The only way to appreciate the flavor is to use them!




Stir-fried Shrimp with Garlic and Cilantro Roots
Adapted from The Food of Thailand (see right side bar)
Feeds 3 to 4

• 1 pound medium to large shrimp, peeled, deveined and blotted with paper towels to remove excess moisture
• 6 to 8 cilantro roots (attached to about 1 inch of stem)
• 5 large cloves garlic
• 20 black peppercorns
• 2 red Thai chillies, dried or fresh is fine
• 2 tbs oyster sauce
• 2 tbs low sodium soy sauce (or 1 1/2 tbs regular soy sauce)
• 1/2 tsp sugar
• cilantro leaves, for garnish

Start by making the sauce. Combine the oyster sauce, soy sauce, sugar and 1 tbs water. Stir well to dissolve the sugar. Set aside until needed.

There are two ways to go about preparing the flavor base. My favorite is to make a paste, but this will require a little more elbow grease and patience (but it's not as bad as making curry paste). If you go this route, you must slice the cilantro roots as finely as possible. They are quite fibrous and if not sliced in advance, will take forever to pound down. Pound/grind the sliced cilantro roots, garlic, peppercorns and chillies in a mortar until you get a smooth paste.

Alternatively, you could make a rough paste if you aren't inclined to do all that pounding. The one advantage of a rough paste is being able to pick out the fibrous roots when you're eating. Start by splitting the roots in half lengthwise. Pound them in a mortar just to crush the fibers. Remove them from the mortar and add the peppercorns, garlic and chillies and pound them to a paste. Mix the garlic paste with the crushed roots.

Gather all your ingredients so that they are close by, because this stir-fry goes pretty quick.

Heat your wok over high heat until very (very) hot. Add about 2 to 3 tbs oil and when it's hot, add the flavor paste. Stir-fry for about 20 to 30 seconds, making sure not to let it burn. You'll start to smell the garlic and cilantro roots. Add the shrimp. Stir them around frequently (not constantly) until they are almost done. Add the soy sauce mixture, drizzling down the hottest side of your wok to get the sauce to caramelize a little. Toss the shrimp around to coat with the sauce. Taste and adjust flavor as needed with more soy (or water if it's too salty for you). Remove immediately from the wok and garnish with cilantro leaves. Serve immediately with steamed jasmine rice.

I'm submitting this recipe to Weekend Herb Blogging created by Kalyn from Kalyn's Kitchen. The host this week is Simona from Briciole. If you can't participate this time around but want to, click here to see who's hosting in the future.

Easy Rice Noodle Stir-fry: Pad Se-ew

I added some tips (in bold) to make this recipe easier to follow. Let me know if it helps.
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Happy New Year!

I know. I know. I’m late. I had every intention of posting sooner with my food-related favs of 2007 and resolutions for 2008, but that boat came and went and it seems a little untimely to do it now.

Instead I’ll tell you about one of my fav noodle dishes when I was a kid. It’s called pad se ew. This is the noodle dish mom made most often, probably because it’s so easy. Unlike pad Thai, the list of ingredients is relatively short. It’s also one of those dishes that gives you some flexibility with the ingredients. Mom always used Chinese broccoli, which doesn’t look or really taste like regular broccoli. It looks more like collard greens but tastes more like kale. If you can't get Chinese broccoli, kale, broccoli, broccolini or even asparagus will do. For the protein, you could use chicken, pork or tofu. I prefer to use fresh rice noodles (also called chow fun noodles), but you could always soak the dry rice noodles (like for pad Thai).



The main flavoring ingredient in this stir-fry is a mushroom flavored soy sauce. It has a smoother taste than regular soy sauce and I think that why it’s also referred to as light soy sauce (not to be confused with Chinese light soy sauce, which doesn't contain mushroom). It's actually thin soy sauce co-fermented with mushrooms. Mom always called it Healthy Boy, which is actually the brand she used. In fact, I don't know if there is another brand?? Unfortunately, I don’t think many grocery stores stock it, so you’ll need to visit your local Asian grocer. Or you could pay a little more and buy it online. BTW, this mushroom soy sauce is a great substitution for regular soy sauce in many stir-fries. Try it in fried rice and you’ll see.

Mushroom soy sauce is not as harsh as regular soy sauce in the same way that kosher salt is not as harsh as regular iodized salt.

Pad Se-ew with Broccoli and Tofu
Serves 4

• 2 tsp regular soy sauce
• 3 tbs mushroom flavored soy sauce (also referred to as light soy sauce)
• 2 tsp sugar (I prefer brown, but white is fine)
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• ½ block tofu, cubed (or the protein of your choice)
• 1 to 2 eggs, lightly beaten (depending on how much you like eggs)
• 1 to 2 cups broccoli florets (or one bunch washed and well-dried kale or Chinese broccoli)
• 1 to 1 1/2 pound fresh, wide rice noodles (also called chow fun), strands separated (or about 8 oz dried wide rice sticks, soaked in boiling water until semi-soft, drained well and lightly oiled to prevent sticking*)
  

Make the sauce by mixing the soy sauce, mushroom soy sauce and sugar together. Stir to dissolve the sugar. Set aside, but remember to stir it before using. [BTW, I always recommend making a double portion of the sauce mix. Everyone has a different preference for salt. You may feel like you want to use more sauce and it's annoying to rush around throwing more sauce together when you're stir-frying. You can spike the leftover sauce with some chili garlic sauce or sambal and use as a condiment.]

In a hot wok over high heat, add about 1 or 2 tbs oil (don’t use olive oil; it sucks for stir-frying). When it’s smoking, add the broccoli and stir-fry for about 2 minutes, stirring occasionally. You want it to be tender-crisp (more crisp than tender because you’ll cook it further later). Remove it from the wok and set it aside.

Add 2 more tablespoons oil to the wok. When hot, add the tofu (or meat). Stir-fry, stirring only occasionally, until the tofu begins to brown, about 3 to 4 minutes. Add the garlic and continue for 30 seconds. Slowly drizzle the egg down the sides of the wok and cook until they are just set. Add the noodles and pre-cooked broccoli and stir-fry for a minute or two, until the noodles begin to soften. Add half to 2/3 of the sauce mix and stir-fry to coat the noodles. Taste the noodles and add more sauce mix if necessary. It's done when the noodles are cooked through. Serve immediately.

Don’t forget to serve with accompaniments, such as roughly ground chili pepper and wedge of lime. My favorite is a vinegar chili sauce, which you've probably seen at noodle houses. A quick version of the sauce can be made by combining 1 tbs fish sauce, 1 tbs rice vinegar, 2 tsp sugar and fresh or jarred jalapeno peppers to taste. If you have extra sauce, try spiking it with chili garlic sauce or sambal and serving as a condiment.

*You may want to read the post I did, which compared the fresh rice noodles to the rice sticks. Here is the link.

Easier Than you Think: General Tsao's Chicken

I have 3 Chinese cookbooks and not one of them contains a recipe for General Tsao’s Chicken. But walk into any Chinese Restaurant in America, and you’ll find it on the menu. Is this a Chinese-American invention or is it actually genuinely Chinese? Anyone with an answer, please speak up.

Whatever it’s origins, it’s definitely a crowd pleaser. That’s why I was thrilled to find a recipe for it here on Slashfood. If you think it’s difficult or time consuming to make, it’s not! I think it’s the deep-frying bit that turns people off to making this at home. Personally, I find deep frying a lot neater than frying up a steak or pan searing chicken; it just takes a little longer. Still, this dish can be done in about 30 minutes.

I pretty much followed the recipe since this was my first time, and it turned out great. The only things I did a little differently were double the sauce (because God forbid there isn’t enough sauce to go around) and wok-caramelized the chicken in the sauce to give it that extra touch. Of course you can just toss the chicken in the sauce and serve it that way.

There are a couple of important things to remember: 1) Even though the sauce may taste very salty by itself, the chicken is not seasoned, so it all mellows out in the end. Serving with steamed rice also cuts the saltiness. 2) Use whatever cuts of chicken you like. Contrary to what people think, using breast meat will not be too dry. In fact, it won’t be dry at all. The cornstarch prevents that. It’s the Chinese secret to any stir-fry and deep fry. 3) The batter will look similar to a tempura batter, but the chicken will never get as “crunchy” due to the egg. Don’t worry. The result will not be soggy, especially after you give it a quick turn in the sauce in your wok.

General Tsao’s Chicken

• 1 lb skinless, boneless chicken, cubed or sliced
• 1/3 cup cornstarch
• 2 eggs
• ½ cup soy sauce (low sodium is fine)
• ¼ cup rice wine vinegar
• 1 tbs cornstarch
• ¼ cup sugar (more or less to taste)
• 1-2 tsp sambal oelek or 1-2 chili peppers split lengthwise (or more to taste)
• 4-5 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 tbs minced ginger
• 1 bunch green onions, sliced in long on the diagonal (save 1 to slice finely for garnish)
• vegetable oil for deep-frying (I do not recommend olive oil)

Set the oil on the stove to heat while you prepare the chicken and batter. Depending on the size of the pot, you may need about 3-5 cups of oil.

Start by making the batter. In a large bowl, whisk the eggs until they are well scrambled. Slowly add the cornstarch in batches while whisking vigorously to prevent clumping. When you get a uniform mixture, add the chicken and turn to mix well. When the oil reaches 350º, it’s ready. Don’t worry if you don’t have a thermometer, just add a drop of the batter to the oil. If it starts to sizzle, the oil is ready. Fry the chicken in batches, making sure not to crowd the pieces. Use a spider to separate the pieces as they will have a tendency to stick together, even if they are not crowded. It will probably take about 2 minutes per side, so a total of 4 minutes per batch. The chicken should be golden brown and cooked through. I recommend draining on a rack set above a cookie sheet, but draining on paper towels is okay too.

As you’re frying up the chicken, you can begin to make the base for the sauce. In a small sauce pan, add the soy sauce, vinegar, cornstarch and sugar. Whisk to dissolve the cornstarch. Put the pot over a medium-low heat and simmer until the sauce thickens. Stir it as needed. Add more sugar or vinegar according to your taste. Once it gets thick, turn off the heat and put the lid on to keep it warm until needed.

Once the chicken is done and the sauce is ready, heat up your wok on high heat. Add about 1 tbs of oil (you can use some of the oil from deep-frying) then add the garlic, ginger and sambal or chili. Stir-fry for about 30 seconds or until the mixture is fragrant. Add the green onions and continue to stir-fry for about 1 minute. Add the chicken and continue cooking. Add the sauce (about ½ cup or more to your taste) and quickly turn the chicken it in. You need to work quickly because the sauce will become very thick and caramelize quickly. Once the chicken in well coated, you’re done. Garnish with the sliced green onion. Serve immediately with steamed rice and a vegetable.

TIP: One thing you can do is to cook a vegetable like asparagus or broccoli in the wok after you have removed the chicken. Add the vegetable and a little water to release the caramelized sauce. Put a lid on the wok and steam/simmer the vegetable until tender-crisp.