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

FAQs

Do you need to soak eggplant before frying? ›

Nope! Some cooks believe soaking eggplant in salted water is the secret to crispy fried slices, but this recipes uses a different technique of salting each slice.

Despite the term literally meaning "fish fragrance" in Chinese, yuxiang contains no seafood and is typically not added to seafood. On top of the basic mixture, cooking yuxiang almost always includes the use of sugar, vinegar, doubanjiang, soy sauce, and pickled chili peppers.

Eggplants are known to absorb a lot of fat while cooking. A useful tip to prevent sogginess and greasiness is to salt sliced or diced eggplant and let it sit for an hour. This helps to draw out moisture. Next, rinse and drain any liquid from the sliced eggplant, then pat dry before cooking.

Since there's no oil being used when baking the eggplant, I recommend soaking the eggplant in milk or almond milk. This way the eggplant slices come out of the oven soft and not dried out.

Despite its name, there's no fish in the recipe. Instead, it's a nod to the fact that the sauce boasts a combination of sweet, savory, spicy and sour that's delicious with seafood. Yuxiang Eggplant (yùh hēung 魚香 ké jí 茄子) literally translates to Fish Fragrant Eggplant.

Not sure which exact dialect), fish fragrant anything is zippy and spicy and tingly from a healthy mix of ginger, scallions, garlic, chiles and Sichuan peppercorns — these are the powerful, memorable, addicting flavors that first seduced me as a child, when I used to eat often at a Hunan restaurant; Hunan cooking uses ...

Grain-based black vinegar (醋, cù) is a fixture of Chinese pantries that adds a rich, slightly sweet, tangy flavor to raw salads and cooked dishes. The same Maillard reaction that turns your onions into sweet, concentrated slivers of caramelized flavor is responsible for black vinegar's deep umami.

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.

Slice or chop the eggplant. Sprinkle evenly with salt. Transfer to a colander over a plate and set aside for 30 minutes to drain. This draws out the bitter juices.

Overcrowding the pan.

The best eggplant is caramelized and crispy on the outside and melt-in-your-mouth tender on the inside. This is achieved by giving the cubes or slices enough room to brown while they cook.