Thai Basil Chicken and Red-Cooked Chinese Eggplant

I love Chinese supermarkets. The meat, seafood and produce are soooo cheap (not to mention all the Asian ingredients that would be otherwise super hard to find or super expensive). I got the ingredients to make this dinner for four people for about 20 bucks, and I still have leftover Thai basil and Thai bird’s eye chiles (which were like two dollars for fifty of them).

In this recipe, the basic but assertively aromatic and spicy Thai flavors of fish sauce, basil and chiles come together to make a ground chicken dish to complement jasmine rice. For a vegetable side with a bit more sauce to go with the rice, I picked out a Shanghainese recipe from rockstar chef Danny Bowien (of the Mission Chinese Food restaurants). He uses traditional (spicy bean paste, dark soy sauce, ginger) and nontraditional ingredients (anchovies, chiles de arbol) in this preparation that yields soft but not mushy eggplant in a fragrant, dark red-brown sauce packed with salty, savory flavor.

Thai Basil Chicken

Total Time: 45 min

Yield: 4 servings

Ingredients

• 2 cups fresh basil leaves, tightly packed (use Thai basil with the purple stems, if you can find it)
• 3 garlic cloves, peeled
• 6 Thai chiles, or 2 serranos, stemmed
• 2 tablespoons fish sauce
• 1 tablespoons oyster sauce
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 1 teaspoons white vinegar
• 1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breasts
• 3 shallots, peeled and thinly sliced
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil or peanut oil

Method

• Pulse 1 cup basil leaves, garlic and chiles in food processor until finely chopped. Transfer 1 tablespoon of this mixture to a small bowl and add 1 tablespoon of the fish sauce, the oyster sauce, sugar and vinegar, stirring to combine. Set aside. Transfer remaining basil mixture to a heavy skillet or wok
• Pulse chicken and remaining 1 tablespoon fish sauce in food processor until meat is chopped finely. Transfer chicken to medium bowl and refrigerate for 15 minutes
• Stir shallots and oil into basil mixture in skillet. Heat mixture over medium heat, stirring constantly, until shallots are golden brown, 5-8 minutes
• Add chicken, stirring to break up pieces, until little to no pinkness remains, 2-4 minutes. Add reserved basil-fish sauce mixture and cook for another 1 minute, stirring constantly. Stir in remaining 1 cup basil leaves and cook until wilted, another 1 minute. Serve immediately, passing extra fish sauce, sugar and vinegar at the table

Red-Cooked Chinese Eggplant

Total Time: 45 min.

Yield: 4-6 servings

Ingredients

• 5 Chinese eggplant, quartered lengthwise, cut into 3″ pieces
• 3 cups canola oil
• 3 tablespoons light brown sugar
• 2 tablespoons Chinese chili bean paste
• 1 tablespoon tomato paste
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 oil-packed anchovy filet, finely chopped
• 1 sachet of spices (5 whole cloves, 4 whole star anise, 2 pods black cardamom, one 4″ strip peeled orange zest, and 1 stick cinnamon, halved, wrapped in cheesecloth and tied with kitchen twine)
• 2 cups chicken stock
• 1½ teaspoon Szechuan peppercorns, crushed
• 1½ teaspoon dark soy sauce
• 1 teaspoon fennel seeds
• 2 chiles de arbol, stemmed
• 2 tablespoons Chinese cooking wine
• 1/2 teaspoon fish sauce
• 3 cloves garlic, mashed
• 1 tablespoon finely chopped scallions, green parts only

Method

• Submerge eggplant in a bowl filled with ice water for 5 minutes. Meanwhile, heat oil in a 14″ flat-bottomed wok over medium-high heat. Drain eggplant, dry thoroughly with paper towels, and add all to the oil. Cook until just soft and golden, about 3 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, transfer eggplant to a bowl, cover with boiling water, and let sit for 3 minutes. Drain; dry with paper towels
• Discard all but ¼ cup oil in wok; return to medium heat. Add sugar; stir until sugar dissolves and mixture looks like separated peanut butter. Add 1 tbsp. chili paste, tomato paste, bay leaf, and anchovy; cook for 1 minute. Add sachet of spices, stock, 1 tsp. peppercorns, dark soy sauce, fennel seeds, and chiles; boil. Cook until reduced by half, about 15 minutes; discard bouquet garni. Add remaining chili paste, wine, fish sauce, and garlic; cook for 1 minute. Add eggplant; fold into sauce. Transfer to a plate; garnish with remaining peppercorns and scallions

Szechwan Eggplant (with Yangzhou Fried Rice)

 

My first ever favorite restaurant was called Szechwan Garden…I was three years old. But to this day  (the restaurant went out of business years ago), I can still remember the sweet, sour and most of all, spicy, chile-flecked dishes typical of the Szechwan style of Chinese cooking. It was usually shrimp or fish filets that were bathed in this craveable sauce (I used to polish off these huge bowls of white rice just to mop it all up), as I wasn’t a huge fan of eggplant as a kid, but along with spicy green beans, this garlicky, incendiary eggplant dish is one of the most ubiquitous Szechwan dishes, available on almost any Chinese menu you’ll see. To put out the fire, I used leftover rice to perhaps its greatest use: fried rice. I added some diced shrimp, scrambled eggs, peas, shitake mushrooms and scallions to make the classic fried rice that most Americans (myself included!) are familiar with. I didn’t include a recipe, but basically, you stir fry the shrimp and scallions till just cooked, then scramble the eggs, then fry the rice and vegetables and sauce (a little oyster sauce, soy sauce, sugar and sesame oil) for a few minutes, then serve. Simple.

Szechwan-Style Eggplant

Total Time: 1 hour, 10 minutes (20 minutes active)

Yield: 4 servings

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 pounds eggplant (narrow Asian ones, if you can get them)
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon light soy sauce
• 3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
• 1 tablespoon minced ginger
• 2 teaspoons sugar
• 1 teaspoon sesame oil
• 1 tablespoon garlic chile paste
• 1 tablespoon rice vinegar
• 3 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 3/4 cup chicken stock
• 1 teaspoon cornstarch, dissolved in 1 tablespoon of water
• 1 scallion, thinly sliced

Method

• Trim the ends off the eggplants and peel them. Slice the eggplants lengthwise into 2-inch long by 3/4-inch thick strips. Place the strips in a bowl, toss them with the salt, and set aside for 1 hour to draw out excess water.  Rinse the strips under cool water, drain, and pat them dry with paper towels

• In a bowl combine the soy sauce, garlic, ginger,  sugar, sesame oil, green onions, garlic chile paste, and rice vinegar.  Set aside

• Heat the vegetable oil in a wok over high heat until it is very hot.  Add the eggplant strips and stir-fry for 5 minutes or until the eggplant is soft and cooked through.  Add soy sauce mixture to the wok and stir-fry 1 additional minute.  Serve with fried rice, or steamed jasmine rice