Baba Ganoush - Spiced Eggplant Dip

Here I go with yet another dip recipe, but I can't seem to go past this one as it was a definite highlight of the last cheese and dip platter I had going at supper not long ago. And by supper I mean the meal you have, well after dinner time, when you are supposed to be sleeping, but find yourself craving something moreish (we've all been there!).  With summer approaching here and the days getting longer, it calls for less time in the kitchen and more time outdoors.  Home-made dips are the best for when you want something flavoursome, and you want it quick.  Whip a dip up in no time and tear up some flatbreads, slice some crusty sourdough or just open a cheeky pack of crackers to enjoy.  Many Middle Eastern and Mediterranean restaurants start their meal banquets with dips as an entree - and I hate when they only give you a teency-weency bit of dip - especially if it's good. My home-made dips allow for abundance so you needn't miss out. Check out a previous post Four Dips worth Double Dipping.
Ingredients
1 large Eggplant, use a small knife to slice a few vertical lines to allow for heat to escape (otherwise it will explode in the oven)
2 tbsp x Olive Oil
2-3 tbsp x Tahini
2 cloves x Garlic, crushed
2 tbsp x Lemon juice
1 tsp x Cumin powder
Salt to taste
Olives for garnish (optional)
Directions
Turn on the grill section of your oven (or broiler depending on where ya from!)
Put the eggplant in a heatproof dish and place under the grill for about 30-40 minutes or until the inner flesh collapses, 
Be sure to turn every 10 minutes to ensure it cooks evenly
You may want to blacken the skin over a gas flame but this is optional (I reccommend it for the exceptional smoky flavour it develops)
Wrap the eggplant in cling wrap and allow to cool for about 20 minutes
When cool enough to handle remove the skin and mash up the fleshPlace all ingredients into a food processor with the eggplant and pulse to combine

Adjust seasoning to taste - add extra salt, lemon or olive oil if desired
Serve with your choice of bread and enjoy with some olives on the side
Baba Ganoush will keep for up to a week in a sealed container at the back of the fridge

"I love the mellow depth of flavour that comes from smoking the eggplant - the dip takes on a sweetness unlike no other, and the lemon and cumin compliment it perfectly."

Fish Fragrant Eggplant...once again!!!

This recipe is a retake, blast-from-the-past, redux, if you may, of a dish that I have been trying to recreate for some time now.  My first encounter with this very intriguingly named dish was at Sichuan House, where they stack it higher than my little molehills effort in the pic above.  I have previously blogged on a version that I cooked up a few months ago.  Check it out at Fish Flavoured Eggplant - This version was tasty, no doubt, but not at all close to the Sichuan House version.  This time around however, armed with the arsenal that is Fuchsia Dunlop's book, Land of Plenty, I think I have hit closer to the mark and I thought I should share the recipe along with a couple of my tweaks to it.

The eggplant in this dish holds up it's crispiness after being deep-fried and the accompanying sauce is not too short of the true Sichuanese taste.  Given that eggplant is my most favourite vegetable...ever, it wont be long before I give this another try after sourcing some authentic Sichuan style Chilli Bean sauce.  The main varieties available contain salted soybeans, but the Sichuan type consists of fermented fava beans.  I will continue hunting, there are plenty of Chinese grocers in Melbourne.

Ingredients, serves 4

2 x Eggplants, cut into large wedges or "fat" chip shapes

1/2 cup x Potato starch or Tapioca starch (I have used cornflour previously but found the tapioca starch really worked well for the crunch that I was looking for)

Oil for deepfrying

1 1/2 tbsp x Chilli bean paste (Lee Kum Kee brand is acceptable but can be salty, adjust to taste and dilute final dish with water if necessary)

3 tsp x Ginger, finely chopped

3 tsp x Garlic, finely chopped

1/2 cup x Chicken stock

1 1/2 tsp x Sugar

1/2 tsp x Light soy sauce

1 tsp x cornflour mixed with 1 tbsp x Cold water 

1 1/2 tsp x Chinkiang Chinese Black Vinegar

4 x Spring onions, green parts sliced into fine rings

1 tsp x Sesame oil

Directions

Place the eggplant chips on a flat plate and sprinkle about a tablespoon salt over the surface. Leave to stand for 30 minutes while you prepare the rest of the ingredients. This is to draw out some of the liquid within the vegetable.

Heat the oil in a frypan or wok and allow to reach a good deep frying temperature (about 190 degrees celcius)

Wipe the eggplant pieces with kitchen towel to remove the extracted liquid

Place the tapioca flour (or potato flour) in a clean plastic bag along with the eggplant

Secure the opening and shake well to coat the eggplant in the flour completely 

Carefully fry the eggplant in batches for about five minutes until cooked through and crispy on the outside but not burnt

Remove with a slotted spoon, draining as much oil, and keep warm in a serving dish while you finish the sauce.

For the sauce, heat a wok with two tablespoons of the oil

Stir in the chilli bean paste for 30 seconds followed by the ginger and garlic for another 30 seconds 

Next combine the stock, sugar and soy and add to the dish, add a little salt to taste, if required, bring to a boil

Briskly whisk in the cornflour mixture and continue to stir until the sauce thickens

Now add the vinegar and spring onions and allow to cook for a few seconds  

Finally stir in the sesame oil and remove from the heat 

Pour the sauce over the fried eggplant chips and serve immediately to ensure the eggplants retain some of their crunch

This method with the sauce is listed as an alternative to the original Sichuan recipe in Fuchsia's book. I have tweaked it even further by adding the step of coating with tapioca flour. I prefer the beauty in the crunch of the eggplant when prepared this way, the tapioca gives it the edge, and is an ode to Sichuan House's tower of eggplant.

 The original recipe says to add the non-flour coated, deep-fried eggplant to the wok after the stock, sugar and soy mixture is brought to the boil.  Then it continues with the cornflour slurry, vinegar, spring onions and sesame oil.  I have prepared the dish in this method too, but found that the eggplant becomes far too mushy and the texture feast is missing as everything gets a bit soggy.  I have also had it prepared like so in other Sichuan restaurants but have always gone back to Sichuan House's version that has so much appeal - well for me anyways!!!

And in case you're wondering what is so fishy about a dish called Fish Fragrant Eggplant, which has no fishy ingredients at all, here is a little explanation from the book:- The fish fragrant flavour is one of the 23 flavours of Sichuan and get's its name from the seasonings used in traditional cooking of fish. It has a combination of salty, sweet, sour and spicy tastes and is heavily aromatic from the abundance of ginger, garlic and spring onion.  The sauce's orange colour is derived from the base ingredient of Sichuanese chili bean sauce which is also typical in the cooking of fish dishes.  

Baingan Bharta, Eggplant Masala Mélange

At the top end of Melbourne’s Bourke Street sits a couple of Indian restaurants operating under the same chain.  They go by the names Green Pepper and Red Pepper.  Both places cook up similar dishes but the main variant in that Green Pepper is set up in a more classy almost fine dining manner.  Red Pepper is more of a regular take away joint that satisfies diners that are looking for quick informal bite to eat. 

Colleagues of mine have long bragged about the tastiest dish (according to them!) on the menus of both Red & Green Pepper – Baingan Bharta – a spicy eggplant dish from India that encompasses all things good about an eggplant or aubergine for my Poms out there!  The most memorable part of this dish is the smoky taste that comes from the cooking process of initially roasting the eggplant.  I recall this dish being made by my parents, but it is more of a side dish that was eaten alongside other vegetarian dishes with steamed basmati rice and daal.  At Green Pepper the dish is served as a main with your choice of naans or rice to accompany it, and as it is one of their specialties. Baingan Bharta costs more than most of the meat based mains and definitely packs more punch. 

I decided to challenge myself to recreate Green Pepper’s Baingan Bharta, after all how hard could it be?  Bharta in Hindi refers to a dish of a vegetable (usually), that has been pulped or mashed.  Another variety that was always popular with me as a child is Aloo Bharta which is made from potatoes.  The smoky flavour infused into the eggplant is the key to this dish. The aromas that fill the kitchen during preparation are sensational and give you a prelude of the dish to come - a mélange of masala delight!

Ingredients, to serve 4
2 x medium Eggplants (500g) (Baingan or Aubergine or Brinjal)
2 tbsp x Oil
1 tsp x Cumin Seeds
1 x Red Onion, finely diced
1 tbsp x Fresh Ginger, crushed
2 x Fresh Chilli, sliced (remove the seeds if you like it milder)
2 x tsp Cumin powder
½ cup x Peas
2 x Fresh Tomato, diced 
1 tsp x Mustard Oil (optional, but it adds to the flavour to the dish) 
Salt to taste
Coriander leaves, chopped for garnish 
1 tbsp x Ginger, cut into fine matchstick lengths 
Directions

Preheat the oven to 200^o c

Place the eggplant in a roasting dish and allow to bake for 30-45 minutes

Turn the eggplant around with tongs every 15 minutes, the flesh will begin to collapse as it roasts

When the skin has darkened and is slightly hard to the touch remove from the oven

Turn the highest flame on your cooktop on

Hold the eggplants with metal tongs over the flame to blacken and blister the skin further, this will really infuse the smoky taste that is sought after

Allow the eggplant to cool then peel the skin off and mash into a coarse pulp

Heat a wok with the oil and add the cumin seeds

Fry for a few seconds then add the onion and cook till soft

Stir in the crushed ginger and sliced chilli with the cumin powder

Now add the eggplant and the peas and fold through the spice mix

Cook for 5 minutes stirring to avoid it from catching

Stir in the chopped tomato and mustard oil and cook for a further 5 minutes

Add salt to taste

Remove from heat and garnish with coriander and ginger matchsticks

"This is a very easy dish to create and does not have a huge list of hard to find spices.  It’s simplicity relies on the delectable smokiness of the eggplant and the freshness of the other ingredients.  With the addition of peas that gives the dish more body it even turns the tables on regular Baingan Bharta that my parents make as this now becomes a main.  Thanks goes out to Green Pepper for putting it on the menu, or else I would have never thought to cook an eggplant dish like this."

Baingan Bharta is a favourite dish at my workplace as most of my colleagues love the stuff and could probably live on it! 

So now when I make a batch of the good stuff, I make sure I take in plenty of lunch packs for the troops!

It saves me the trip to Green Pepper!!

Eggplant filled with Tuna

I love eggplant! I really do! Even my mother finds it hard to believe, since I was a very fussy eater when it came to most vegies.  Eggplant is one of the most featured vegetables on this blog, and rightfully so.  I have prepared it Asian style and Indian style and even tried to replicate my Bangladeshi mother-in-law's recipe.  I took a punt on this recipe as I wasn't too sure how tuna would taste with eggplant.  The result was a well received dish that goes well as a starter or even as a main with some crusty bread to mop up the juices.    The tuna is also interchangeable with minced meat if you wanted a less fishy dish.
Ingredients, to serve 4
2 x Medium sized Eggplants
Olive oil
1 x Small Onion, finely diced
2 x Cloves Garlic, crushed
1tsp x Dried Oregano
250ml x Pasta Sauce
300g x Canned Tuna, drained
Salt, to taste
1 cup x Breadcrumbs (optional)
2tbsp x Sesame seeds, toasted (optional)
Grated Cheese (optional)  
Directions
Preheat oven to 200 degrees Celsius
Cut both eggplants length ways into four halves
Using a sharp knife cut a 1cm width around the flesh, do not pierce the skin

Scoop the scored eggplant flesh out with a spoon and chop into rough pieces

Place the four halves in a baking dish and drizzle with olive oil
Turn oven down to 180 degrees and place dish in oven
Allow to bake for 25 minutes or until the eggplant starts to soften and collapse slightly

If the surface starts to brown too much, cover with aluminium foil 
For the filling
Heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a sauce pan
Add the onion and cook for 3 minutes or until soft then add the garlic and oregano
Now add the reserved eggplant flesh and stir fry for 5 minutes 
Pour in the pasta sauce and stir through
Break up the tuna with a fork and add to the mixture stirring well to combine
Cook for further 3-4 minutes or until the liquid has dried slightly
Remove from heat and allow to cool before dividing the mixture into four
Spoon the mixture into the eggplant halves and return to the oven for a further 20 minutes

As an optional topping, sprinkle breadcrumbs mixed with toasted sesame seeds on the eggplant before returning to the oven, or sprinkle grated cheese and bake for 20 minutes.  

Fish Flavoured Eggplant - Sichuan Style

 Eggplant has by far my favourite vegetable at the moment.  It has found it way to the top of my hit list thanks to places like Pepper Chilli, Chilli India and Sichuan House including it in some very mouth watering dishes on their lunch menus.  I have also adapted some of the eggplant dishes I have tasted and come up with my versions of Baingan Bharta - a spicy eggplant mash, and my mother-in-laws recipe for Shutki Baigan - eggplant with dried fish.  One of the dishes I most look forward to at Sichuan House is their fish flavoured eggplant concoction.  This dish has a very spicy, yet sweet sauce that coats the eggplant that is shaped like chips.  The most unique thing about the eggplant is crunch that you get when you sink your teeth into the saucy chips. Well my version does not achieve this level of crispiness - probably because I do not have an industrial strength deep fryer the get the crunch to precision.  What is lacking in crunch is definitely made up  for in the taste as fish flavoured eggplant is sure to please.  Something noteworthy is that nothing fishy goes into this dish yet it is named so.  I found out that the named derived from the preparation of a fish dish with similar ingredients.  Lost in translation somewhere it became known as Fish Flavoured Eggplant because it's probably easier to read on a menu than "Eggplant made with ingredients from a fish dish that gives it a fish flavour".  This recipe includes carrot and zuchinni that is diced and combined with the sauce to give it more body and some crunch.  Feel free to omit these if you want to stay true to the Sichuan house version, where it is all about the eggplant.
Ingredients
500g Eggplant, cut into chip-like pieces (this is done quite easily with long Asian eggplants)
1 tsp x Sichuan Pepper. lightly toasted and ground, reserve ½ tsp to sprinkle at finish

1 x Egg, beaten
100g x Cornflour, reserve a tsp mixed with equal water to thicken sauce 
Oil to deep fry
1 Tbsp x Ginger crushed

2 tsp x Garlic, crushed  

1 x Carrot, finely diced (optional)
1 x Zuchinni, finely diced (optional)
For the sauce
¼ cup x Chicken stock, reserve extra stock for increasing sauce quantity if desired

2 Tbsp x Chilli Bean Paste

1 tsp x Dark Soy

2 tsp x Light Soy

2 Tbsp x Black Vinegar

2 Tbsp x Shao Xing Wine

2 Tbsp x Tomato Ketchup

1 tsp x Brown Sugar

Spring Onions to garnish

Directions

"Some recipes omit the deep frying of the eggplant and just flash fry them in a hot pan before adding to the rest of the sauce ingredients to finish the dish  I have tried this way and have not enjoyed it as the eggplant does not hold its shape and the dish can become quite mushy in texture.  My taste testers also voted in favour of the deep fried eggplant.  As bad as it sounds to deep fry, my technique has always been to get the oil to an optimum heat of 190 degrees celcius as this will ensure and even coat of crunch and not allow for too much saturation of the oil.  I usually find I am left with almost the same amount of oil as I started.  Use a deep saucepan and a thermometer - it does sound finicky but is well rewarded."

Prepare the sauce first by combining all ingredients in a bowl and keep aside.

Heat a wok until very hot then swirl in a table spoon of oil followed by the ginger and garlic

Stir for half a minute then add the diced vegetables and fry for 2 minutes 

Now add half a teaspoon of ground Sichuan pepper and the prepared sauce and stir well to combine

Add extra stock if desired and sprinkle the extra Sichuan pepper to taste, adjust seasoning 

Whisk in the cornflour slurry and bring the sauce to a boil until it thickens slightly

Remove from heat an rest while you prepare the eggplant

Combine the cornflour and ground sichuan pepper in a plastic bag 

Dip the eggplant chips in the beated egg and then place in the plastic bag and shake

Do this in batches so the eggplant is evenly coated in the cornflour mix

Heat oil in a saucepan or deep fryer, use a thermometer if possible to determine when the oil is at 190 degrees celcius

Fry the eggplant in small batches until golden, then drain well on absorbent paper

Bring the sauce to the boil again and add in the fried eggplant

Fold gently to coat the eggplant with the sauce
Add a sprinkle of Sichuan pepper powder to finish
Garnish with sliced spring onions and serve immediately on steamed rice

To keep in the Sichuan style of things I added a quick spicy dish to tonights menu courtesy of another food blog click to navigate to the blog for the recipe,

Sichuan Dried Fried Green Beans

Eggplant with Dried Fish...Bangladeshi Baingan Shutki

Foodies the world around that enjoy cooking harbour their inspiration from many facets.  For me I would have to say my “curry culture” comes from my parents.  My siblings and I grew up at home in Melbourne.  Our family comes from India, so we spent many a dinnertime over my dad’s curry concoctions or my mother’s carefully prepared Chicken Korma or Biryani (she's very precise in the ingredients and methods).  The recipes for these dishes always seemed to elude any written form and I am quite convinced that they do not exist, on paper anyway.  Instead, the ingredients and exact specifications for these dishes are imprinted in the memory banks of home cooks alike.  Mums and dads, grandmas and aunts all seem to know just how much of each spice, and just how much salt is required to get the dish to taste exactly the same way it did the last time you ate it.  I am yet to put my parent’s recipes into this blog – it’s just a matter of letting them in the kitchen to cook, with me hovering around taking notes and pictures – stay tuned (future blog topic alert!)

One such cook that follows the same principles of cooking without cookbooks, is my mother-in-law - my Amma (আম্মা - Bengali for mother).  She is originally from Bangladesh and has been cooking almost all her life, and like my parents, her recipes are all in her head too.  For some years now I have been enjoying dishes prepared by her, and true to form, her chicken curry and beef curry always impresses – and meets the requirement of tasting the same each time.  I think that even if I had not had it in a while, I would recognise her curry in a blind taste test.  On a recent visit to “the in-laws” I was greeted at the front door with the aroma of something deliciously spicy being cooked up in the kitchen.  On closer inspection (as you do!), I was delighted to discover that it was an eggplant dish that she was conjuring up.  Over the years, I have falsely given the impression that I like only meat curries, and as a result Amma has only cooked me beef and chicken dishes, which I have loved each time.  Well I have voiced my opinion on all things vegetarian (and fishy) with her, and hopefully now I can experience some dishes from Bangladesh that will be completely new to me.   

Ikan Bilis - use these if you cannot get Bangladeshi Shutki

This highly pungent dish is a classic style Bangladeshi cuisine which uses dried fish as its flavoursome base.  Shutki, as it is known in Bangladesh, can include a variety of fish that have been dried over time, and as you would expect, they share the common characteristic of a very, very stinky smell, similar to Belachan (Dry Shrimp Paste) – that I have used frequently in Malaysian and Indonesian cooking.  In most cases I would recommend when cooking anything with dried fish, to open all the windows and doors in your house – unless you have an industrial strength exhaust fan in your kitchen.  

Despite the recipe being safely locked away in my mother-in-law's head I was able to get the ingredients and directions and decided to try my hand at some Bangladeshi cuisine.  I admit, however, that when I cooked it yesterday, it was not the same as hers, but it was tasty and came somewhat close to its likeness.  This dish is a very easy to prepare and surprisingly simple, given how good it tastes.  I have used Ikan Bilis, as they are easy to come by in your local supermarket, but to be true to her traditions my Amma sources only the finest shutki from her Bangladeshi grocer, and for authenticity I think I will use these next time as my final dish just was not fishy enough.

Ingredients

• ½ cup x Ikan Bilis , soaked in warm water  
• 1 x large Eggplant, cut into thick batons
• Cooking Oil
• 1 x large Onion, finely diced 
• 6 cloves x Garlic, crushed
• 3-4 x Green Chillies, sliced
• 1 tsp x Turmeric Powder
• 3 tsp x Coriander Powder
• 1 tsp x Chilli Powder
• ½ cup x Water
• Whole green chillies, sliced lengthways to garnish 

Home-grown garlic straight from my garden

Directions
In a hot wok heat 2 tablespoons of cooking oil

Add the onion and cook slowly for a few minutes until soft

Now stir in the garlic and chilli be sure it does not catch

Put in the teaspoon of turmeric and combine

Squeeze and drain the water out of the soaking ikan bilis 
Discard the water and add the dried fish to the wok

Add the eggplant pieces followed by the coriander and chilli powder

Mix well, turning to coat with the mixture

Add a little water to deglaze the bottom and sides of wok

Turn the heat to low and cover the wok

Cook for about 10 minutes or until the eggplant is tender but still holds its shape
Remove the lid and allow the liquid to reduce slightly to a thick gravy
Garnish with sliced whole chillies and keep covered until serving

"Traditionally Bangladeshi food is eaten with the hand although I leave this up to the experts.  I seem to get by with a spoon and fork."

"Eggplant and Dried Fish would generally be eaten with rice but I am a big roti fan. Parathas, naans or chapatis go well with the dish too."

Review - Sichuan House, Chinatown

I asked a colleague and fellow Foodie – "M" to suggest a venue for lunch. A short stroll down Chinatown at the end of Corrs Lane, off Little Bourke St was a doorway whose aromas just seemed to beckon with the promise of chilli, spice and something exotic. Here lies "Sichuan House" (formerly known as "Dainty" - I had to put this in as most people at my place of work still refer to this place as "Dainty" - BTW they have moved to South Yarra - I smell a visit in the air)

I had walked past this restaurant many a time but never ventured up the short staircase to the dainty room above.  No points for set up or décor as this was just a basic table and chair affair, but the room was filled with tantalising tang of the dishes being freshly prepared in the busy kitchen behind the counter.  Hectic waitresses bounded across the floor with sizzling plates stacked to the hilt and the “ding” of the service bell kept them returning back to kitchen to pick up another order.

“So what do we order?” A veteran diner to this establishment, M was quick to point out the highlights of the menu. Looking around at what other “lunchers” had ordered I could see, Kung Pao Chicken, Lemon Chicken – the only dish that glows but what caught my eye was the huge stack of pork served up a few tables down.  Bring on the Cumin Pork Ribs.

Wow!!! What an explosive arrangement.  Delicately soft pork ribs – too chunky for chopsticks – double cooked crispy goodness, coated with a very spicy cumin and chilli rub.  This dish is amazing.  From the pyramid of meat perfectly positioned to the piquant sauce that makes your tastebuds bounce. Top Pick!

Not to be carnivores favouring only meat dishes, we ordered a side called Salt Flavoured Eggplant.  Yet again another stack (hardly a side dish), this time of carefully placed eggplant slices.  I think they could have come up with a better name but nevertheless, fish flavour with a strong hint of garlic, chilli and sugar dancing around lightly coated crispy eggplant. 

Till then I had only had eggplant fritters, dip and grilled antipasto style.  This new experience was unexpectedly fantastic.  If all veggies were prepared for me like this you won’t hear any complaints about eating my veggies ever again.
We ran out of belly space and time so we unfortunately missed dessert.  The two dishes we ordered were ample for three to four people sharing and came served with steamed rice. At around $20 a head for quality food Sichuan House would rank very highly on the shared lunch list.  Besides, I would like to see one person go through a stack of pork ribs that big.   Our appetites were truly satisfied and we even had leftovers packed up to take home.  Definitely a place to visit again, and again and again.