I just got back from vacation and am trying to get back into the swing of things at home. First order of business was, of course, to sort out groceries and some sort of meal plan for the week. I decided to consult a handful of Cook's Illustrated magazines for inspiration.

I gravitated toward this recipe because it reminds me of one of my favourite eggplant dishes: fish-fragrant eggplant. As it turns out, that very dish was the inspiration for the flavours in this one! Now, recipe as written, I didn't find this quite as tasty as fish-fragrant eggplant. It is a good deal easier and healthier though (no frying the eggplant first). And I think the slightly lacking flavour should be easy enough to remedy.

For now I've just added a little miso paste and some reconstituted dried mushrooms to try to bump up the umami factor. In future I would soak the mushrooms first and then use the soaking liquid as the base for the sauce. I'd also double the scallions. (I really like scallions!) I'd probably bump up the garlic a little too. I've rewritten the recipe below to reflect these changes.

Braised Eggplant with Soy, Garlic, and Ginger

Adapted from Cook's Country September/October 2019

Ingredients

• 12 dried black mushrooms
• 1 1/2 c. boiling water
• 1/4 c. shaoxing wine (or dry sherry)
• 1 Tbsp. light soy sauce
• 1 Tbsp. dark soy sauce
• 4 tsp. sugar
• 2 tsp. doubanjiang/toban djan/Asian broad bean chili paste
• 1 tsp. white miso paste
• 1 1/2 tsp. cornstarch/corn flour
• ~1kg eggplants¹
• 1 Tbsp. canola (or other neutral) oil
• 2-3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 1/2 tsp. ginger paste
• 1/2 tsp. toasted sesame oil
• 2-4 scallions, sliced thin

Directions

1. Pour boiling water over mushrooms and let stand for at least 10 minutes.
2. Trim 1cm from top and bottom of each eggplant. Halve crosswise. Cut each half lengthwise into two pieces. Cut each piece into 2cm wedges. Set aside.
3. Drain mushrooms, reserving liquid, and remove stems. Discard mushroom stems. Slice caps thin and set aside.
4. Combine mushroom soaking water, wine, soy sauces, sugar, chili paste, miso pate, and cornstarch and whisk until sugar has dissolved.
5. Heat large pan over medium heat and add canola oil.
6. Add garlic and ginger paste to hot oil and cook for 30 seconds.
7. Add eggplant wedges and sliced mushrooms to pan.
8. Pour sauce over contents of pan and increase heat to high.
9. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to medium, cover, and simmer for 15 minutes.
10. Uncover and cook, occasionally swirling pan, for an additional 10-15 minutes.
11. Drizzle with sesame oil and sprinkle sliced scallions on top.
12. Serve over rice².

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¹ Either Italian or Asian eggplants will work for this. Avoid very large eggplants as they will tend to disintegrate during cooking. ^Back
2 I seasoned my rice with black peppercorns, star anise, and cinnamon. For 2 c. of (uncooked) brown rice I added 1 star anise, 1 cinnamon stick, and ~half a dozen black peppercorns as well as a tsp. or so of ghee. I think a few greens probably wouldn't've gone amiss either, but I didn't think of it 'til just now. I think black kale or maybe even a bit of gai lan would probably work well. ^Back