Recipe to make right away: Northern Chinese stir-fry ‘Three Earthly Treasures’
Chef Rosheen Kaul and illustrator Joanna Hu were born in China but grew up in Australia. Rather than holding on to their parents’ culinary traditions or assimilating into Australia’s cuisine(s), they chose a new path and combine both cuisines. The new cookbook Chinese-ish is an ode to the merging of the two cultures and offers a wealth of inauthentic dishes, such as this Northern Chinese stir-fry ‘Three Earthly Treasures’.
Rosheen: “This delicious, homely Northern Chinese stir-fry consists of crispy fried potato, tender eggplant and crunchy bell pepper, mixed with a fragrant garlic sauce. Each vegetable offers a different texture.
Here we use the so-called tou wei suan technique (头尾蒜), in which chopped garlic is added both at the beginning and at the end of the cooking process. The warm, caramelized flavor of fried garlic and the extraordinary aroma of freshly fried garlic give the dish incredible depth.”
How to make the Three Earthly Treasures stir-fry
- Cover the eggplant cubes with water and add the salt. Soak for 15 minutes, drain well and pat dry with paper towels. Toss the eggplant cubes with the cornstarch and set aside.
- Heat the oil in a wok or frying pan until smoking, and fry the potato slices until golden brown and wrinkled. Drain and set aside.
- Fry the eggplant cubes in the same oil until tender, drain and set aside.
- Briefly fry the bell pepper, until it turns bright green. Scoop it out of the oil and set aside with the other vegetables.
- Mix all the sauce ingredients in a small bowl. Remove all but 1 tablespoon of oil from the pan. Add half of the garlic, fry until fragrant, then add the sauce. Bring to a boil, return the vegetables to the pan and toss in the sauce. Add the remaining garlic, fry over high heat for 1 minute, garnish with the sesame seeds and serve.
Title: Chinese-ish
Author: Rosheen Paul & Joanna Hu
Price: €23.50
Publisher: Good Cook
Also read:
- Also crazy about eggplant? Here’s how to check whether it’s still good
- Recipe: sticky spicy eggplant fries
- Deliciously vegetarian: this eggplant recipe
