Crisp eggplant with fish-fragrant sauce recipe by Dan Hong (2024)

FAQs

Do you need to soak eggplant before frying? ›

"The only exception is when you deep fry it. I tend to soak the slices in a bowl of water with a couple of tablespoon of salt for about 30-45 minutes. It doesn't have to do with bitterness, but I find that in doing this, the fried eggplant turns out less greasy," Jenkins says.

It is called yuxiang in Chinese, which literally means “fish aroma,” because the traditional recipe calls for chiles that were fermented with crucian carp, which gave it a deep anchovy flavor, much like the Vietnamese fish sauce called nuoc mam.

Soak eggplant slices or cubes in milk for about 30 minutes before cooking.

Older recipes call for salting eggplant to draw out the bitter juices, but today's eggplants are less bitter (unless very large), so salting is largely unnecessary. It will, however, help the spongy flesh absorb less oil and crisp up like a dream.

According to cookbook author Hannah Che, the Chinese culinary notion of a fish fragrant dish originated "along the coast of the Yangtze River in Sichuan, where fishermen often cooked the fish they caught using a pungent mixture of chiles, ginger, and garlic." Ingredients cooked in a similar combination of ingredients ...

Fish-fragrant is one of the unique flavor profiles in Sichuan cuisine, characterized by a blend of savory, sweet, sour, and spicy notes. The taste is contributed by the black vinegar and pickled red chili, and a heavy usage of ginger, scallion, and garlic.

This delicious combination of flavours is thought to have originated in traditional Sichuanese fish cooking, which would explain why other ingredients prepared in teh same way would have instantly recalled the taste of fish, hence the name.

Submerge the pieces in the salted water. Use an upside-down plate or pot lid to weigh down the eggplant so it is fully submerged in the water. Let the eggplant sit in the brine for at least 30 minutes and up to 1 hour. Drain the eggplant and pat it dry with a clean kitchen towel or layers of paper towels.

Before you cook

Before you start cooking an eggplant, you should get rid of any liquid residues and coat it well so it won't absorb oil. For this reason, slice your fruit (yes it's a fruit) and place it in a colander. Add a generous amount of salt and let it sit over the sink until all the liquids are eliminated.

Brining adds flavor and texture to eggplants. "Mix spices and salt with water, then soak sliced eggplant in the brine for 30 minutes before cooking.