Steamed Eggplant Salad
I wanted to make some kind of Japanese or Chinese-flavored side dish that could be neatly accompanied with a small bowl of Mabo-Tofu leftover from day before. This salad came up in my mind.
J said he had never had this kind of dish. Interesting. Fortunately he liked it although he thought it would be better if eggplant was chilled as well as the topping. The served eggplant was a little warm while the topping red pepper and scallion was icy cold. I didn't mind of the mix-match temperature, but I understood it could be lovely if the entire salad was chilled. I would do so next time.
After a giant eggplant was steamed, it released a lot of liquid, and shrank a lot. We were able to eat a whole giant eggplant at once! This salad dish was great when you would like to consume a lot of vegetable easily with less oil.
Steamed Eggplant Salad
SERVES 2-3
1 large eggplant
1/2 red pepper, very thinly sliced
1 scallion, very thinly sliced
Sesame dressing
2 tbs white sesame, grinned
3 tbs Japanese Ponzu soy sauce
2 tbs mayo
1 tbs fresh ginger, grated
2 tbs rice vinegar
1-2 tsp sesame oil
1-2 tsp sugar (I used two little packs of Splenda, which made the dressing pretty sweet.)
1. Peel eggplant, cut into short log shape, soaked in water for 30 min, drain, transfer to a microwave safe container, cover with plastic wrap, microwave for 6 mins, until soften, drain well. (and chilled if you like)
2. Soak red pepper and scallion in ice water for 20-30 min, drain, pat with paper towel.
3. Mix all ingredients of sesame dressing.
4. On a plate, place eggplant, topped with red pepper and scallion, spoon sesame dressing from the to.
