Eggplant is my all-time favorite vegetable. There are
variety of ways to cook them. You could make smoked eggplant salad, fried eggplant, eggplant gravy, mashed eggplant curry (North Indian Baigan Bartha) and this one is
Chinese style. Even though I’ve tried similar style eggplant in Singapore Chinese
vegetarian restaurant; I never bothered to try it at home.
But once I saw it demonstrated by Kylie kwong in Masterchef Australia, I immediately noted it down and tried it no sooner I got
all the ingredients. We can call it Ami’s twisted version, because I made small
modifications in steps as well as ingredients. My DH’s reaction to this dish is
“Superb”. Eggplant’s taste is relatively bland that’s why it easily blends with
any type to spices or gravy. Fried eggplant has a mild sweetness and when it is
mixed with a spicy hot and sour sauce, eggplant absorbs and blends well with
this aromatic tangy sauce. It’s a “must try” for all eggplant lovers like me.
How often do you get inspired by cooking shows? I
always do. Some of my favorite chefs on TV are Michael Smith, Jamie Oliver,
Chef Wan (Malaysian), Anna Olson, Nigella Lawson and Laura Calder. These are
some of the other celebrity chef inspired recipe creations in my kitchen.
