Text 13437, 97 rader
Skriven 2008-09-07 17:19:00 av Michael Loo (1:18/200.0)
  Kommentar till text 13334 av Nancy Backus (1:3634/12.0)
Ärende: Eggplant 886
====================
 -=> Nancy Backus said to Janis Kracht <=-

 >> eggplant which MUST be de-bittered, and the cheese and breadcrumbs.
 > Hmmm.... I don't think that they did anything to the eggplant to
 > de-bitter it...  I do remember in recipes for moussaka that one is
 > supposed to lay it out after slicing with kosher salt sprinkled on it
 > and weighted...  is that the sort of thing you are referring to?
 JK> Yes, exactly :) Then rinsed and patted dry.
 > Or is it just the breading and pre-cooking that de-bitters it?
 JK> No, you have to use salt to get that out.

Eggplant used to come in two general categories: little Asian and
European ones that didn't have to be de-bittered, and big honking
American ones that were more fibrous and had to be beaten up a bit
before they became edible. To do this, you either brined the slices
or coated them in salt and let them sit an hour; in either case you
had to rinse them well and squeeze them dry - more than once I have
served altogether too salty eggplant.

Nowadays the big eggplant are often more tender and mild, and a lot
of recipes say that the prepreparation is optional. My sister used
to have a fit when I squeezed her eggplants to death, but I always
thought the result was better.

 NB> OK.  I guess in their recipe the chilies simply overpowered the
 NB> bitterness, because I'm sure that they skipped that step.  ;)  And I
 NB> don't remember any bitterness from the eggplant.

You could have had a less bitter variety. In my experience, chiles
tend to accentuate bitterness if anything.

 JK> Same here.. one of my favorites is Asian eggplant as a side dish..
 JK> it's so good.
 NB> When I see eggplant in garlic sauce on the Chinese buffets, I always
 NB> make sure I get some.  :)   And there's a lovely item on the dim sum
 NB> cart sometimes, a piece of Asian eggplant stuffed with a seafood
 NB> mixture and a thin sauce over it all...  Yummy... :)
 
I've made this dish and can cook it for you but don't have a
recipe ready. I'm trying to avoid work, though, so I'm
reconstructing it in my head now ...

Stuffed eggplant
cat: Chinese, dim sum
yield: 1 batch

1 long skinny eggplant, 6 oz? or so
sesame oil
1/2 ts salt
1/4 lb shrimp, small will do
2 Tb pork fat, unrendered
1 ts ginger, minced
1 ts scallion, minced
1 sm clove garlic, minced, optional
soy sauce and/or oyster sauce
cornstarch
1 egg white?
shrimp stock or chicken broth
soy sauce and/or oyster sauce
MSG, optional
cornstarch
sesame oil

Cut long skinny eggplant (sometimes known as Chinese or Asian)
into about 1" diagonal slices. Slit these in the middle to
produce a mouth into which you will put the stuffing. Massage
all cut sides of the eggplant with a tiny bit of salt and a
tiny bit of sesame oil.

Make the stuffing. Chop shrimp and pork fat very fine, almost
to a paste, with ginger, scallion, and garlic to taste. Season
with soy sauce and/or oyster sauce. Mix in a tiny bit of corn
starch to help bind. Saute a teaspoon of this mixture and taste
for seasoning. Note: I forget whether I add an egg white to
the stuffing. Probably do.

Stuff the mouths of the eggplant slices with a big tablespoon
of the stuffing: I like them quite full. Squeeze the slices a
little to get stuffing into all the nooks and crannies.

Steam in a steamer either lined with scrap greens or in
little heatproof serving dishes. Cook until eggplant is soft
and stuffing is firm, just a few minutes (I don't know, I just
keep peeking).

Make the sauce. Bring some broth to a boil. Season with
soy sauce and/or oyster sauce and MSG if you can stand it.
Thicken with cornstarch water.

When eggplant is done, remove from steamer, pour the sauce
over, and flick a drop or two of sesame oil over each piece.


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