Stir Fried Eggplant in Chinese Fermented Beans

My hat's off to SC's mom, who has been planning menu daily for over 30 years. She could make tasty and hearty dishes from the most humble ingredients! This dish is one of her brilliant ideas. It's really tasty, a little goes a long way with rice, I almost forgot that this dish doesn't even have any meat in it. It's that good, and it's so simple to make.


Recipe
- 1 eggplant, cut into chunks
- Chinese fermented beans (min si), we bought a pack from the wet market
- spring onion, roughly chopped
- cooking oil, white pepper, corn starch dissolved in a bit of water to thicken the sauce (optional)

Saute eggplant chunks in a bit of oil until softened, add min si bit by bit to suit your taste, add white pepper, add chopped spring onion, thicken sauce with corn starch mixture if you wish, and serve with white rice.

This could be a side dish to your meat and carb, or this could be the star of the play when you fancy a meatless day.

Sambal Terong - Spicy Eggplant Chilli Paste 印尼四椒矮瓜

Remember the spicy eggplant sambal from the lunch gathering at my place? Here are the stuff that went into it.
哩個係上次午餐飯眾既其中一味餸


While preparing the sambal ingredients, cut a large eggplant into chunks, drizzle with oil, season with salt and pepper, grill in 200C oven until softened with some charred bits.
切細D矮瓜 (切到一舊舊), 加少少油, 調味料, 鹽, 胡椒, 用200C黎烤, 到軟同少少焦為止

The chilli paste
- 0.5 cm ginger, peeled
- 5 cloves of garlic, peeled
- 5 cloves of shallot, peeled
- 4 large green chilli, core and seeds removed (I didn't want to kill my guests heheheh)
- 4 large red chilli, core and seeds removed you can leave them alone if you want it really spicy)
- 4 small chilli (this is where the heat's from)
- 2 tsp ground cumin
- 2 tsp ground corriander
- salt, sugar, pepper, vegetable oil
- to add later: lime leafs, crispy shallot, fish sauce

Throw everything into food processor and pulse into a paste.
放晒D材料去食物加工器, 撳制


Heat 2 tbsp oil, saute everything until fragrant, add the grilled eggplants, adjust seasoning if necessary, add lime leafs, garnish with crispy shallot. Consume with lots of rice :D
落2湯匙油, 煎到香就加矮瓜, 調味, 攪掂~ :D

Baked Cheesy & Spicy Eggplant Sambal with Rice

Sambal and cheese.
It is certainly not a "classic" flavor combo, no?
But I couldn't help it.
When I see cheese, I have this unstoppable urge to grate them on top of something savory and bake them until they're gooey and golden.
I don't think you'd blame me.
It is, unsurprisingly, delicious!


Eggplant Sambal Recipe
- 1 eggplant, wash and cut into bite sized chunks
- 3 cloves of garlic (oh yeh), minced
- 4 shallot, sliced thinly
- 3 large red chillies, seeds removed (or you can also use a few smaller, hotter ones and include the seeds if you like it really hot)
- oil, salt, pepper, sugar, ground corriander, cumin
Saute garlic, shallot and chillies in a couple tablespoon of hot oil until super fragrant, add eggplant, mix about, season and spice it until you reach a balance between savory, spicy and sweet, cook until the eggplant chunks absorbed the spicy goodness and are nice and soft.


In a baking dish, add rice (I just used some leftover rice), add eggplant sambal on top of it, add lots of cheese (I used mozzarella and parmesan), bake until golden brown and garnish with crispy shallot if you like. Addition of freshly chopped coriander would be perfect. Too bad I didn't have any (why don't I ever have any coriander in my kitchen! T_T)

Eggplant & Minced Meat in XO Sauce

Another favorite ingredients combo of mine...hearty minced meat with soft, sauce-thirsty, fibre-rich eggplants. Yum! Don't we all love one-dish weekday dinners?

This time, I'm using the free XO sauce I got as a souvenir from my dinner at Satay King. You can slather anything with XO sauce, and it should taste fan-bloody-tastic.

Recipe
- 1 eggplant, cut into long pieces
- 0.5 lb minced meat
- 1 clove garlic, crushed
- 1 cm ginger, crushed
- 2 clove shallot, sliced thinly
- 1 tbsp xo sauce (try to include as little oil as possible)
- olive oil, soy sauce, fish sauce, sugar, pepper, hot water, crispy shallot (optional)

Saute garlic, ginger and shallot in olive oil, add minced meat, season a bit with fish sauce, let cook until the color changed. Add eggplant pieces, cook until they change color, add sauces, add hot water and cook until the eggplants are deliciously soft. Adjust seasonings if necessary, garnish and serve with steamed rice.

Hearty, spicy, savoury, and most importantly, as always, easy ;)

Spicy Turmeric Eggplant - Dinner with A View

How do you eat your dinner every day?

I tried my very best to produce delicious looking food pictures in beautiful settings (tried my very best =/= successful), but do I really eat my dinners on a beautifully set table, with forks, knives, fine china, vintage napkins and crystal wine glasses? When I said "Dinner with A View" did I mean something like this?

Nononononono....it's more like:
- eating off the floor
- in front of TV/laptop
- dishes on a tiny side table
- rice bowls on hand
- eating with my bare hands
- feet on sofa/chair

In events where:
- the dining table that I ordered has not arrived
- the side table in front of the TV is occupied
- the other rooms are all cleared and prepared, awaiting electrician to install lighting
...just eat in the kitchen, straight outta wok on the stove.

But whew! What a view! I am so loving this sparkly Hong Kong lights by the sea. Being able to cook overlooking such gorgeousness, I feel so inspired, so in awe,....ehm! Watch that butter! It's starting to burn!

The dish in the wok was...
Spicy Turmeric Eggplant - Terong Bumbu Kunyit

Another easy one -pot-wonder. It has the meat, the fibre, the heat, the spices and the combination of textures...creamy eggplant, crunchy chunky green chilli, and springy mushrooms.

Recipe
- 1 long eggplant, halved and sliced in an angle, about 5 mm thick
- 3 large green chilli (not too spicy, replace with the small ones if you want more heat)
- 1 lb minced meat
- 1 cup oyster mushrooms (or button or straw mushrooms)
- 4 cloves garlic, crushed
- 2 bulbs or shallot, thinly sliced
- 5 mm ginger, crushed
- 2 tsp ground turmeric
- 2 tsp ground cumin
- 2 tsp ground corriander seeds
- olive oil, white pepper, fish sauce (or salt), sugar

Soften your eggplants. I did this by tossing them in a bit of olive oil and salt, and dump them in the oven (200C) for about 10 minutes, until softened and a bit browned, set aside. Saute garlic, shallot and ginger in olive oil, add minced meat, cook until almost done (note the color change), add mushrooms, add eggplant, season, cover until thoroughly cooked. Tastes absolutely fantastical with steamed rice, but I bet it also tastes great stuffed into pita bread.

Now excuse me while I lick my kitchen clean (ha ha ha not funny)

Baked Spiced Eggplants with Tamarind Dip

Are you a scary movie person?

Most of my friends aren't. They won't watch scary movies, even if theirs life depended on it. Sous chef is a huge scary movie fan and will watch whatever guaranteed to scare the crap outta him. I am half and half. I like watching scary movies, in broad day light (no fun, eh?), or late a night with a huge group of people....and...to be exact, I just watch the top right corner of the screen whenever a super scary scene is anticipated. If the scary scene is visible everywhere on the screen, including from the top right corner, I would simply close my eyes. HAHA. Yes. I am a timid little mouse with a tiger's taste.

I love classic scary movies involving mystery of spiritual world...and I hate aliens in scary movies (I stopped watching The X files when they started to blame everything on aliens). My favorite scary movie of all time is The Exorcist. I remember watching a rerun of the series on TV with my dorm friends in my uni days, after which around 6 of us would snuggle in one bedroom being scared. Hmmm...so far this post has not done anything to build up everybody's appetite, aye? LOL.

I simply wanted to share this as I just got back from scaring and sickening myself watching an early 10:35 AM scary movie screening at a cinema nearby. The movie is called REC, a little predictable but they've done a great job keeping everything so real. There's one thing I hated about this movie, which was the camera movement. Although I've closed my eyes 30% of the whole movie, it still managed to cause me motion sickness which lasted the whole day, I barely had any appetite, which is almost NEVER (haha). The movie was really not suitable to watch while eating...even pop corn.

But here's something I like to snack on while watching my favorite chick flicks ^_^

Baked Spiced Eggplants with Tamarind Dip

Recipe

The Baked Eggplants
- 1 long eggplant, sliced around 5 mm thick
- 5 tbsp all purpose flour
- 1 tsp salt, a dash of pepper, 1/2 tsp sugar, 1 tsp cumin, 1 tsp ground corriander
- 1 egg, beaten
- bread crumbs

Preheat oven to 200C. On a plate, mix flour with salt, pepper, sugar, cumin and ground corriander. In a bowl, beat an egg and on a separate plate, mix bread crumbs with a bit of salt and pepper. Grease an oven tray, dip eggplant pieces into flour, then egg, then bread crumbs, and lay on oven tray in just 1 layer. Bake until golden brown, flipping just once.

The Tamarind Dip
- 2 red chilli, sliced thinly
- 1 small clove of shallot, sliced thinly
- 1 tbsp tamarind paste
- 1 piece palm sugar
- fish sauce, light soy sauce

Dissolve tamarind paste and palm sugar in hot water, add chilli, shallot, fish sauce and light soy.

If you don't mind deep/pan frying, these taste even more fantastic fried. Hehe ;)

I am submitting this to Wandering Chopstick's event, Weekend Wokking. Hosted this week by Marija from Palachinka. Check it out more eggplants recipe!

Now let me think of a lame excuse not to attend next week's sickening scary movie screening. Any ideas? Hehe

A Hearty & Spicy Eggplant Dinner & Snack Shot News

I need fibre! If there's one thing I miss about my hyperthyroidism, it's gotta be my used to be super high metabolism rate. After they removed most of my thyroid gland, the teeny tiny bit of the remaining gland, which had been under the influence of 3 year long medication, is now as highly effective as doing nothing in the office. So, my current metabolism rate is as high as that of a huge piece of rock, which is pretty much standstill. That explains why I desperately need fibre, and eggplant is my choice for a tasty answer.

I love how eggplant absorbs any seasonings we put.

I didn't want to do a classic Chinese spicy eggplant with minced pork, as my sous chef threatened to purchase 1 jar of instant seasoning, and I don't feel like sharing recipes which came from a jar :p So here comes my version of Hearty & Spicy Eggplants (recipe below).

The Snack Shot#2 News
THIS MADE MY DAY! Michelle of Greedy Gourmet told me that I won the overall photography part of Snack Shot #2: Leek! YAY! YAY! YAY! I've never won any contest since my junior high writing competition about Ibu Kartini (Indonesia's national hero for women's education), and that was a longgggggggggggg time ago! This calls for another major splurge on food ^_^...

Thank you, everybody, for giving me this super cute badge!

My post for Snack Shot#2: Leek> Licky Leek Spring Rolls

See you all at Snack Shot #3: Muffin! Can't wait to drool over and gobble down your yummy muffin posts!

A Hearty & Spicy Eggplant Dinner Recipe

(serves 4)
- 2 long eggplants, peel skin off, cut into long chunks
- 1.5-2 lbs ground beef (depends how meaty you want it to be, I like mine very meaty hehe)
- 4 red chilli, core and seed removed, finely chopped
- 4 cloves of garlic, 5 cloves of shallot, finely chopped
- a bunch of fresh corriander, finely chopped
- a bit of ginger, crushed
- 1 small tomato, chopped/smush
- 1 tbsp tamarind paste, 1 tbsp palm sugar, soy sauce, sweet soy sauce, fish sauce, lime juice, pepper
- olive oil, a bit of corn starch dissolved in water for thickening

Saute aromatics, add beef, add pieces of eggplants, cook until eggplants a bit softened, add spices/seasonings, thicken sauce, cook until eggplant pieces are soft enough for your taste (ehm I like them a bit mushy hihhi), serve with steamed white rice.