Name: Crisp Eggplant with Fish Fragrant Sauce
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 45 min
Total time: 1 h
Yield: 4
Cuisine: Chinese
Ingredients: 6 pcs Japanese eggplants, peeled and baton sliced; oil, for deep frying; 2 long red chillies, thinly sliced; 2 spring onions, sliced; fried shallots; chopped coriander; 1 cup water; 2 cups sugar; 1/3 cup honey; 100 ml light soy sauce; 2½ tbsp Chinkiang black vinegar; 100 ml Chinese red vinegar; 3 tbsp miso or Doenjang; 2 tbsp chilli bean paste; 2 tbsp chilli oil; 1 tbsp ginger, finely chopped; 4 cloves garlic, minced; 3 pcs birds eye chillies, finely chopped; 2 tsp ground Sichuan peppercorns; ½ tsp chilli flakes; 1 tsp salt; 2 1/2 cups water; 1/2 cup rice flour; 1/2 cup tapioca flour; 5 tsp xanthan gum; 1 tsp fine salt

Description

Crisp Eggplant with Fish Fragrant Sauce is a dish created by Victor Liong made with crispy fried eggplant in a sweet, tangy and sticky sauce topped with fresh herbs and chillies

Ingredients

Units Scale

Eggplants

6 pcs Japanese eggplants, peeled and baton sliced
oil, for deep frying

Garnishes

2 long red chillies, thinly sliced
2 spring onions, sliced
fried shallots
chopped coriander

Sauce

1 cup water
2 cups sugar
1/3 cup honey
100 ml light soy sauce
2 1/2 tbsp Chinkiang black vinegar
100 ml Chinese red vinegar
3 tbsp miso or Doenjang
2 tbsp chilli bean paste
2 tbsp chilli oil
1 tbsp ginger, finely chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced
3 pcs birds eye chillies, finely chopped
2 tsp ground Sichuan peppercorns
1/2 tsp chilli flakes
1 tsp salt

Batter

2 1/2 cups water
1/2 cup rice flour
1/2 cup tapioca flour
5 tsp xanthan gum
1 tsp fine salt

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Instructions

In a saucepan over medium low heat combine water, sugar and honey together, whisk while cooking until sugar completely dissolves.
Bring heat to high then let it boil, let it boil for a couple of minutes then add the remaining sauce ingredients, bring back to a boil then lower heat to medium, simmer for 30 to 40 minutes until the sauce becomes caramel like in consistency. Remove from heat then set it aside.
Prepare the batter, in a large bowl mix together xanthan gum and water, using a hand blender whisk it until thick in consistency. Gently add remaining ingredients and continue to mix until you have a smooth batter.
Fill a large wok or deep fryer with oil then heat it to 180C. Dip eggplant slices into the batter then gently place them into the fryer one at a time.
Deep fry in small batches for 5 minutes, in the first 3 minutes of frying try not to move them around and just leave it, once the outer layer has hardened you can separate eggplants that are stuck together. Remove from deep fryer then set it aside on a paper towel line plate.
Place fried eggplants on a serving platter, generously drizzle sauce on top, making sure every eggplant is coated. Top it with all of the garnishing.