Eggplants in Seattle, Episode 1: Chinese

I recently returned from a trip to the Seattle area, land of really good Chinese restaurants. I tried two eggplant dishes in particular that were incredibly delicious (and, in the second case, somewhat unusual).

At Szechuan Bean Flower, we ate an excellent rendition of eggplant with garlic sauce.

The dish, while delicious, wasn’t unlike other eggplant-with-garlic-sauces that I’ve had before. But the second Chinese restaurant we went to, Yea's Wok, serves an unusual variation.

This dish contains eggplant, strips of hard tofu, inoki mushrooms, carrots, and fresh basil leaves. The ingredients are stir-fried together with a light salty sauce. But while the Yea’s dish was more interesting, I’d recommend Bean Flower as a more vegetarian-friendly option. At Yea's Wok, there are few vegetarian dishes and we were accidentally served meat, despite requesting tofu substitution. Bean Flower, on the other hand, has an entire veggie section. And also a huge mirror on one wall, which I find is a prerequisite for good Chinese food.

More Seattle eggplants coming up!