Fab Four, Episode 4: Chinese eggplant with oyster mushrooms in black bean sauce

(See entry titled “Fab Four” for an explanation of this series.)

I don’t profess to being capable of cooking truly authentic Chinese cuisine. Still, this dish is a far cry from the soy-sauce sprinkled stir fry that often characterizes failed American attempts at Chinese cooking. While I don’t happen to have a wok, I’d recommend using it if you have one, as it will make you look super intense.

I’ve discovered that I love fresh oyster mushrooms – they have a sort of chewy, creamy earthiness to them that I find perfectly complements eggplant. Shitakes would also be a delicious addition to this dish, as would rehydrated woodear mushrooms. (Note that woodears have no real taste, only texture.) If you can’t find a grocery that sells fresh oyster mushrooms, it’s better to use ordinary white mushrooms than oyster mushrooms from a can, given that canned mushrooms are sort of nasty.

If you’d like more protein, add some wedges of firm or extra-firm tofu. If you prefer your tofu with a golden crisp on the outside, try frying it first, setting it aside and adding later.

Before I dive into the recipe, note that I use this storebought black bean paste, which primarily contains fermented beans, soy sauce, and garlic.

If you’d rather make the recipe from scratch, you can buy Chinese fermented black beans from an Asian grocery; the beans are small, dark black, and extremely salty. To make your own paste, crush up about 1 Tbsp of beans and add about 1/2 Tbsp soy sauce and a crushed clove of garlic for this recipe. Or make a larger quantity of paste and put in the fridge for later.

Ingredients

With the addition of rice or noodles, serves 2

2 Chinese or Japanese (ichiban) eggplants

1 good-sized bunch of fresh oyster mushrooms

cooking oil

1 1/2 Tbsp black bean paste

slightly less than 1 Tbsp rice vinegar (either black or white)

1 1/2 Tbsp sugar

1 tsp tapioca starch (or corn starch, but tapioca makes the sauce clearer)

3/4 c water

Cut the eggplants lengthwise and slice in 1-inch wide diagonal slices.

Cut the oyster mushrooms off the main stem and sliver the larger mushrooms into pieces approximately the same size as the eggplant wedges.

Whisk together sauce ingredients. As starch has a tendency to clump, you may wish to dissolve the starch in  water before adding to the sauce.

Fry the eggplants in a good amount of oil – if they look spongy, don’t be afraid to add more. Give the eggplants a nice brown sear on all sides, remove from pan and set aside. Meanwhile, fry the mushrooms.

A few minutes into cooking time, these are still looking spongy. Cook ca. 5 minutes longer.

When mushrooms have been slightly seared, pour in the sauce. It will look cloudy at first...

but as it bubbles and thickens, it will gradually become translucent and sticky.

Return eggplant to the pan and simmer until eggplant is soft all the way through, about 3-5 minutes. Garnish with fresh scallions and/or cilantro if desired. Serve straight off the stove with rice or rice noodles.

Even the chopsticks are happy!

That’s it for the fab four series! Coming up: anatomy, fusion cuisine, Southwestern, a tribute to bitterness, and oh so much more.