Caramelized eggplant

I never enjoyed eggplant much as a kid and probably didn't even bother ordering it -- much less eating it -- until I lived in Taipei. There, this rather insipid vegetable suddenly took on a new character. It was like a mousy little girl turning into a movie star. 

One of the things that turned the aubergine around for me was simply its new and (for me, at least) improved shape. No longer the enormous grease sponges that used to haunt my plate, these Asian eggplants were long and slender and cooked in a way that turned them silky and sensuous. It was a revelation.

There is another edge to eggplant, though, that is rarely tapped: its natural tendency toward caramelization. This is one of those little secrets that certain Chinese chefs keep locked under their toques, but I am here to tell you all about it.

Small Asian eggplants

I figured this out by wondering how certain Chinese restaurants could whip out an eggplant dish before I barely  had poured myself a cup of scalding tea. Prodding at the dish with inquisitive chopsticks, I came to the realization that the eggplant had been cooked ahead of time and only awaited a quick dive into whatever sauce was required before being plated up. Good, one problem solved.

It turns out that there were two ways this was accomplished: one was the more common method of steaming of eggplant batons, which allowed them to retain their white flesh and beautiful purple skins. A handful of other chefs did something else, though, that lent a richer note to their flavor, although the veggies were no longer quite so pretty cooked this way. As far as I was concerned, though, eating is mainly about the flavor, so I started obsessing over them until I figured out the secret.

My discovery: these little guys had been deep fried. 

Roll cut for more surface area

No batter was used; instead, these were fried all by themselves until browned all over. The edges in particular have a tendency to turn into sticky ridges when they encounter hot fat and the juices actually caramelize. I don't know about you, but I never thought of an eggplant as being sweet before this, but they definitely do have enough sugar in them to turn a luscious walnut hue.

Frying them in hot oil also quickly hardens up the cut edges and skin so that the eggplant forms a seal that keeps most of the oil out and the juices in. The pieces shrink impressively as they cook, but what is left is actually quite sweet and succulent, a word I would normally never associate with eggplant. Then, they are tossed in a vibrant sauce, like the red-cooked (or hongshao) flavors used here.

The secret to perfectly fried eggplant is therefore no more than this: small amounts are quickly cooked in a generous amount of hot oil. A handful of the veggies fries up rapidly this way, in less than five minutes, and browns beautifully, while too many pieces cool down the oil, increase the steam, and turn the eggplant into a fine mess of mush. 

What I do is fry the eggplant in small batches while I'm prepping other dishes. All I need to do is flip them around now and again so that they brown evenly, scoop them out, and then toss in more. It goes quickly and can be done way ahead of time.

Just like in a restaurant.

Red cooked eggplant

Caramelized eggplant Shanghai style 
Hongshao qiezi  紅燒茄子 
Shanghai
Serves 4 to 6 as part of a multicourse meal, or 2 to 3 as a main dish

1½ pounds Asian (long) eggplant

1 to 2 cups peanut or vegetable oil (used is okay here as long as it smells good)

8 thin slices fresh ginger, peeled

1 to 4 cloves garlic, chopped, optional (see Tips)

3 green onions, trimmed and cut into 1-inch pieces

¼ cup Shaoxing rice wine

2 tablespoons regular soy sauce

1 teaspoon rock sugar, or to taste
Thinly chopped green onion or cilantro for garnish, optional

1. Rinse and pat dry the eggplants (see Tips). Remove the caps and trim off any bruises. Roll cut (see Tips) the eggplants into 1-inch chunks. Heat the oil over high in a wok (you want about a 2-inch depth of oil) until a wooden chopstick inserted in the oil is immediately covered with bubbles. 

2. Carefully add about a quarter of the eggplant to the hot oil and stir it around. Let it fry to a nice brown, stirring the eggplant around occasionally, and then remove the veggies with a slotted spoon to a work bowl. Heat the oil up again (see Tips) and fry another quarter of the eggplant. Repeat until done. Drain off any extra oil from the work bowl. (The eggplant can be prepared ahead of time up to this point.)

3. Pour off all of the oil in the wok, leaving just a thin slick inside (see Tips). Heat the wok over high again and then add the ginger, optional garlic, and green onions. Stir-fry them until their edges start to brown, and then toss in the rice wine. Let it bubble for a second, and then add the cooked eggplant, soy sauce, and sugar (see Tips).

4. Quickly bring the wok to a boil again, tossing the eggplant so that each piece is coated with the sauce; taste and adjust seasoning. When most of the sauce has been absorbed (in just a minute or two), plate, garnish if you like, and serve.

Tips

Deep fry the eggplant first

The garlic is optional here, so feel free to use as much or little as you like. Consider the other foods you will be serving, too; if something else will have a good helping of garlic, don't use any garlic here at all so that you can counterbalance the flavors of that dish.

You can use any type of Asian eggplant you like. Be sure and wipe them dry, as water will explode in the hot oil. For the same reason, any time you deep fry foods, wipe your hands dry before approaching the stove, as droplets can backfire onto your arms or even your face.

To roll cut, slice any round, thin vegetable (like a carrot) while rolling it on the chopping block with the palm of the other hand. This gives irregular pieces with maximum surface area. They should all end up being about the same size, so cut any bigger pieces as needed.

Roll-cut eggplant

When deep frying, be sure that the oil is hot before adding more ingredients to the wok. As soon as you remove fried foods, give the oil a little time to return to its original temperature and test the oil again with your chopsticks. This will keep the oil hot enough to immediately fry the foods; otherwise, the foods will soak up the oil rather than form a fried exterior.

Since the eggplant already has some oil in it from the deep frying, don't add any more to the wok when you make the sauce. The thin layer remaining in the wok will be sufficient to quickly stir-fry the aromatics. Some of the oil will leak out from the eggplant into the sauce as the sauce is made, and this will be just the right amount in the finished dish.

Use a small amount of sugar for this recipe and taste it before adding more; I like just a tiny bit to smooth the edge of the sauce here. Also, rock sugar gives a nicer sheen and has none of the sour aftertaste of regular white sugar, so try it if you have it on hand.

How to use every part of the chicken but the feathers, part 2

Yesterday was all about chicken fat. Today we're going to use up all of those bones. And again, if you're not in the habit of using just about every scrap of an animal, please check this out, because you are missing out on something really delicious!

When I break down a chicken for, say, a stir-fry plus a braise, I cut both breasts off of the bird and then remove the wings, thighs, and legs. I then have the white meat (breasts) for stir-fries and poaching, and the moister dark meat (wings, thighs, and legs) for braises, deep frying, smoking, and so forth.

But, I'm left with the back, neck, feet (if I'm lucky enough to find such a bird), and the breast bones. This makes me really, really happy, because all of those bones are pretty much all I need for perfect stock.

There are two ways of going about this. Well, actually three.

The first way is to make the soup as directed below, simply blanching the bones before proceeding with the soup; this gives you a pale broth that takes just like poached chicken. If you want a golden, heartier stock, you should roast the chicken bones at 350 degrees F (a toaster oven comes in handy for this), tossing them every few minutes, until they are browned and smell heavenly; at this point just proceed to Step 2 in the recipe below.

And finally, the third way is to save up your bones in the freezer for a big pot of soup. As the weather cools down, this will be your favorite secret weapon for staying warm and well-fed!

In addition to making soups with this spectacular ingredient, start to view stock as an important seasoning. Stir-fries and braises get a great dose of extra flavor if stock is used wherever water is usually indicated. So, when you stir-fry a vegetable, add a dash of stock toward the very end and taste the extra meaty layer to the flavors.

Stock can be frozen in ice cube trays and then stored in Ziploc freezers for easy access. Be sure to remove a couple of cubes as you start prepping, and you can then microwave them or heat them slowly in a saucepan until they melt.

Below I've included a couple of recipes for really easy home-style soups that will make your life easy and your dinners look warm and inviting. If you've never tasted cooked cucumbers before, try the second soup, and you'll look at this little squash differently from then on. This is a great way, too, to use up any older cucumbers at the end of the season that are too huge or seedy to eat raw. Just peel these mammoths, remove the seeds, and enjoy them as the Chinese do!


Simple chicken stock 
Ji gaotang  雞高湯 
All over China
About 2 cups stock

Chicken parts like backs, necks, feet, wing tips from 1 organic, free range fryer
A few slices of fresh ginger
A couple of green onions, trimmed and cut into 2-inch lengths
Shaoxing rice wine, optional
2 cups boiling filtered water
Sea salt or light soy sauce to taste

1. Rinse off the chicken parts and put them in a saucepan. Cover the chicken parts with water and bring the pot to a boil. As soon as the water boils, pour out the water and rinse the scum off of the chicken parts. Clean out the pan and return the chicken parts to the saucepan.


2. Add the ginger and onions to the pan, pour in a glug of the rice wine, if you wish, as well as the water. Bring the stock to a boil and simmer it uncovered for about an hour. Add a bit of salt or soy sauce to taste. Bring the stock to a boil again and then strain out the solids.


3. The stock can be used immediately or cooled and stored for a day or two in the refrigerator. For longer storage, freeze it as suggested above.

Chicken soup with bean curd, cherry tomatoes, and greens
Qingcai doufu fanqie tang  青菜豆腐蕃茄湯  
All over China

Serves 6 to 8 as part of a multicourse meal, or 2 to 3 as a main dish

2 cups Chicken Stock
2 tablespoons Shaoxing rice wine (if not used in the stock already)
1 block firm bean curd
A big handful of cherry tomatoes, washed
A big handful of fresh greens, washed carefully and torn into bite-sized pieces
Salt to taste
Roasted sesame oil

1. Heat the Chicken Stock with the rice wine in a 1-quart saucepan until it boils.

2. While the stock is heating up, cut the bean curd into 12 or more squares. Let it drain in a colander.

3. Add the bean curd to the stock and bring it to a boil again. Lower the heat to a simmer and cook the bean curd uncovered to heat it all the way through, about 10 minutes. Add the tomatoes and simmer the soup another 5 to 10 minutes, or until the tomato skins start to shrivel. Toss in the greens, bring the soup to a boil again, and adjust the seasoning. Sprinkle the soup with a little sesame seed oil and serve hot.

Stock with ginger and (yes!) cucumbers

Chicken and cucumber soup 
Jisi huanggua tang  雞絲黃瓜湯  
All over China

Serves 6 to 8 as part of a multicourse meal, or 2 to 3 as a main dish

2 cups Chicken Stock (the roasted version is terrific here)
2 tablespoons Shaoxing rice wine (if not used in the stock already)
1 tablespoon finely shredded, peeled fresh ginger
3 slender young cucumbers or 1 large older cucumbers
½ cup leftover chicken, shredded
Sea salt or light soy sauce to taste
Green Onion Finishing Oil

1. Heat the Chicken Stock with the rice wine and ginger in a 1-quart saucepan until it boils.

2. While the stock is heating up, prepare the cucumbers. Tender cukes should have both the stem and blossom ends trimmed off, and then roll cut into 1-inch pieces. (See the picture above for roll-cut cucumbers, and Chef Ming Tsai also shows you how in this video.) Older cucumbers have to be peeled and seeded; then, cut the flesh into ¾ inch cubes.

3. Add the cucumbers to the stock and bring it to a boil again. Lower the heat to a simmer and cook the cukes uncovered until barely tender. Add the shredded chicken and bring the stock to a boil for just a few seconds. Taste and adjust the seasoning. Sprinkle the soup with a little finishing oil and serve hot.