Fuchsia Dunlop's fish-fragrant aubergines
This classic dish from the Sichuan repertoire showcases the cuisine’s complex flavours and, despite its name, is vegan
his dish, almost more than any other, expresses for me the gorgeous layering of flavours that is the signature of Sichuanese cookery. Pickled chillies, either on their own or with fermented broad beans in the famous Sichuan chilli bean sauce, give the dish its warmth and lustre; garlic, ginger and spring onions add a luxurious kick of flavour and a hint of sweet and sour serves to harmonise all the other tastes. The same sauce, minus the aubergines, can be poured over steamed or deep-fried seafood or chicken; while a similar combination of flavourings can be used to cook slivered pork, or as a dressing for cold, cooked peas or broad beans. They call this complex flavour “fish-fragrant” because it draws on the seasonings used in Sichuanese fish cookery, so it is supposed to recall to those who eat it the taste of fish.
If you prefer not to deep-fry, just salt the aubergines, brush them with oil and shallow-fry them or roast them in the oven, then make a fish-fragrant sauce and pour it over them in a serving dish. The aubergines won’t absorb the flavours of the sauce quite as well this way, but they’ll still be delicious. (If you roast or shallow-fry them, then cook them in the sauce as in the classic recipe, they’ll disintegrate, which is why it’s better to pour the sauce over.)
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