It is the right season for eggplants and I have to commit that eggplants and mushrooms are my favorite vegetables that can beat the meal meat. It is matched with a very lovely hot garlic sauce.
If you are my fellow readers, you may find I posted lots of yummy eggplants on my blog and this is a totally new way of making eggplants.
This is super easy to beginners
When I just start cooking, I feel eggplant is quite hard to cook because it needs lots of oil and cooking time. No worries, this one is super easy. Cut the eggplants into wedges and place in a steamer, steam for 10 minutes. That's it!
How to choose tender eggplant
Firstly look at the appearance, the tender eggplant usually has a smooth skin without any wrinkles. If you press it, it will have a firm texture but can back slightly. Further cut the eggplant out, there will be no black seeds inside.
How to keep the purple color of the eggplants
Eggplants are super easy to be oxidized to lose its beautiful color. The basic principal of prevent it from oxidation is to isolate the skin with air. There are two rules, the first one is to steam flatly with skin downside. The vapor will expel the fresh air. And another way is to fry the eggplant in deep oil, which can completely isolate the air. I also find soaking with black vinegar water can help in some degree. A very basic skill used for blanching chicken feet.
Step to Step
Prepare and soak the eggplants
cut the eggplants into halves and further into small wedges. Soak in large pot of water with 1 tablespoon of white vinegar.
Make the sauce
Add garlic, ginger, scallion white, pepper powder, toasted sesame seeds and fresh pepper circles in a bowl and then drizzle around 2 tablespoons of hot oil on top. Mix in light soy sauce, sugar, black vinegar, sesame oil and 1 tablespoon of clean water. Set aside to combine for a while.
Steam the eggplants
Transfer the soaked eggplants to a steamer, try to keep some space among each one. If you get a larger steamer, lay only one layer is the best option. Heat water to a boiling firstly and then place the steamer on. Steam for 10 minutes. You will get cloud like steamed eggplant wedges.
Set up the eggplants in serving plate and then pour the sauce on top.
Chinese Eggplant Salad Recipe
Ingredients
- 2 small long eggplants , or one large one
- 1 tbsp. white vinegar , for soaking optional
Sauce
- fresh chili peppers 1 red and 1 green| cut into small circles
- 1 tsp. minced ginger
- 3 garlic cloves , mashed
- ½ tbsp. toasted sesame seeds
- 1 tsp. chili powder , optional
- 1 tsp. chopped scallion white
- 2 tbsp. vegetable cooking oil
- 2 tbsp. light soy sauce
- 1 tbsp. sesame oil
- 2 tsp. black vinegar
- ¼ tsp. salt or as needed
- 1 tbsp. boiled warm water
- ¼ tsp. sugar
Instructions
Prepare and soak the eggplant
- Cut the eggplants into halves and further into small wedges. Soak in large pot of water with 1 tablespoon of white vinegar.
Make the sauce
- Add garlic, ginger, scallion white, pepper powder, toasted sesame seeds and fresh pepper circles in a bowl and then drizzle around 2 tablespoons of hot oil on top. Mix in light soy sauce, sugar, black vinegar, sesame oil and 1 tablespoon of clean water. Set aside to combine for a while.
Steam the eggplants
- Transfer the soaked eggplants to a steamer, try to keep some space among each one. If you get a larger steamer, lay only one layer is the best option. Heat water to a boiling firstly and then place the steamer on. Steam for 10 minutes. You will get cloud like steamed eggplant wedges.
Serve
- Set up the eggplants in serving plate and then pour the sauce on top.
Nutrition
I also have lots of great eggplant recipes on the blog, check them for your eggplant ideas.
- Yu Xiang Eggplant, a famous Sichuan hot garlic sauce.
- Sichuan eggplant
- Chinese stuffed eggplants, also known as eggplant box
- Super easy eggplants with garlic and fresh pepper
- Chinese eggplant with minced pork
zhangyibo
hello good to visit your beautiful website.
weather i did not know you are a sicuanese or expert of foreigner about sicuan cuisine haha.
i am cooker that i study sicuan cuisine at new east cuisine school at chengdou.
may i know where you are and are you chinese?
Elaine Luo
Hi there,
I grown up in Sichuan province and cook from home.
zhangyibo
oh good parents you have!
haha , i have read many comments on this website there are many foreigner being hot interesting about sicuan cuisine.
maybe you are very busy everyday to answer different kind of questions.
zhangyibo
i know your website from flickr, did you also have account on this one?
Maggie
Great recipe and beautiful photos! I really love eggplants and get to make this soon! Love the way that you presented the dish 🙂
Elaine Luo
Thanks for the kind words Maggie. Eggplant is my favorite vegetable too.
Thalia @ butter and brioche
What a delicious way to use eggplant! I love asian flavours and definitely will be making this recipe... thanks for sharing it!
Elaine Luo
Thanks Thalia,
Happy cooking ahead.
Caroline
This is absolutely gorgeous! I love those beautiful colors. Eggplant is one of our favorites. Can't wait to try this!
Elaine Luo
Thanks Caroline for stopping by and commenting. Eggplant is really an awesome vegetable to me too. Happy cooking ahead.
Debra
This looks scrumptious! However, I'm not sure where to find black vinegar. Do you have a suggestion for a substitution ? Thank you!
Elaine Luo
Debra,
Thanks for the kind words.
Black vinegar usually available in Asian market or you can find it on Amazon. I believe. However if it is really time-consuming, you can use cider vinegar instead.
Zhou
I never really liked eggplant that much...until I moved to China. Eggplants dishes are almost always great here. I don’t know why it tastes so much better in China (except ratatouille - which is amazing). I’ll be trying this recipe on Wednesday. I’m excited and keep the eggplant recipes coming!
Elaine Luo
Haha,
I agree that eggplant is really excellent in Chinese cuisine. I love it very much too.
Denny Li
Thanks, Elaine! This was delicious! And, so quick to make. The only changes I made was to slice the eggplant into batons and steam in the microwave with plastic wrap ( 3 minutes) and to use Italian balsamic vinegar instead of black vinegar (the flavor profile is similar). You are very talented.
I will definitely make this recipe again!
Elaine
Thanks Denny for the lovely feedback and kindly warm words. It is one of the most easiest eggplant salad I enjoyed a lot daily. Happy cooking ahead!
Sharon
Hi Elaine.
Love your recipes and have tried many of them. Thank you. Do you do all
the photography for the website? The photographs are amazing; really convey the
essence of the dishes. Any tips for me, who want to photograph products? Thank you
in advance.
Elaine
Hi Sharon,
Yes, I took all the pictures of this blog. Thanks for your kind word but I think I am still not a photography yet. If you want to take pictures of products, know more about the features and how you want to present it. I only shoot in natural light so am really sorry I know little about the still life product photography.
Tammy
Can I make this 1 day earlier? If so, do i steam and refrigerate the eggplant and then just leave the sauce until serving? I have a big party and want to prep this and not steam the same night. Thank you!
Elaine
Hi Tammy,
Making this in previous day is not recommended, as the taste of the eggplants might change along with the time. But if you really need to do so, it would be a nice idea to taste with a small amount firstly. After steaming, cover the eggplants with plastic wrapper to avoid drying out.