The CookingBites recipe challenge: aubergine (eggplant)

Status
Not open for further replies.
Tortang talong with spicy bittersweet and sour sauce - simple!

fullsizeoutput_83d8.jpeg
 
Morning Glory said:
I'll add to the 'wrong'. They have a subtle taste which I suspect is eclipsed if you add a lot of cheese - especially parmesan. They aren't simply a substitute for lasagne (although they can be used that way of course).

Cooked aubergine has a mild musky flavour which is almost 'mushroomy'. They have a lovely creamy texture when braised. They go particularly well with sweet, sour and salty ingredients as well as aromatic spices and chilli. And of course, if you char them whole the smoky taste of the flesh is divine.

One of the best dishes I ever tasted was cooked by my partner, shortly after we met. He was a fantastic cook and much better than me in those days. It was a Chinese style braised aubergine dish with soy sauce, chillies and spring onions. I've tried to replicate it without success and as he now has dementia he can't give me any clues about other ingredients. I may have another attempt for the challenge.

I've made and photographed my first entry, which features eggs. They are another great bedfellow for aubergines.
Click to expand...
Do you think perhaps you can’t replicate it because the first time you had it it tasted like new l❤️ve?!
That’s one of those ingredients that makes everything taste incredible 😆
 
Second (and possibly final) entry from me:

Recipe - Eggplant Escabeche

Eggplant Escabeche

Eggplant Escabeche


Eggplant Escabeche

Eggplant Escabeche


Eggplant Escabeche

Eggplant Escabeche


Apparently, “escabeche” can mean different things in different cultures, and this one is Argentinian in inspiration.

Chef John, in his video accompanying the recipe, says that if there’s one eggplant recipe in all of Creation that will make a believer out of an eggplant-hater, it’s this one*.

I think he’s onto something, because this dish really something special: pickled eggplant, zucchini, and peppers, with a tasty hot garlic oil poured over. It’s simple and it’s near-perfection. The peppers I used were an Italian hot long, a hot banana pepper, and a mild banana pepper.

It’d be great packed into a picnic hamper with some crusty bread and some manchego, or out on the deck alongside barbecued chicken, or just the right condiment to a nice cured-meat sandwich.

I really like this!

IMG_5276.jpeg


The taste isn’t all that complex - just sour and spicy, that’s about it, but that’s all that’s needed.








*Alas, MrsT, who loves eggplant, didn’t care for this at all, so in addition to converting eggplant haters, it also appears to cure eggplant lovers. If you’re the latter, proceed with caution! :wink:
 
SandwichShortOfAPicnic said:
Do you think perhaps you can’t replicate it because the first time you had it it tasted like new l❤️ve?!
That’s one of those ingredients that makes everything taste incredible 😆
Click to expand...

I don't think it was that. I may be wrong. It was probably more to do with me not being familiar with good Chinese cooking (other than take-aways). Anyway, a version will appear later this week I hope.
 
After an aubergine sojourn in the Philippines, I've been off to North India and somewhere else, which is probably European. Its the nearest I get to travelling these days. So, two more recipe entries cooked and in post production. By post production I mean writing up the recipes and editing photos.

I've a shed load of other ideas. My next stop could be in the US.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top Bottom