Hello everyone， this is Gao
it is very important for eggplant dishes to maintain its purple color
two methods: steam and deep fry
I have a tip to keep its purple color by steaming
If deep fried, I can also make eggplant to absorb less oil
Let's look at the eggplants first
you need to choose darker purple color, and skin should be smooth and shinny.
you don't want
lighter purple color, and skin looks dull
even wrinkled.
wash clean and cut them
you can see the inside is pretty white from this dark purple eggplant
I also cut a lighter purple eggplant to show you inside
the seed area looks brown
compare with the previous eggplant
one is darker, another one is lighter
After cutting, we will prepare them first
about 2 cups of water
add 2 tablespoons of vinegar
soak them for about 1 minutes
sometimes, the vinegar has magic power.
The water is boiling, let's look at the steamer first
there are no holes round the edge
I will put the eggplants in the center
it doesn't matter if the skin is facing up or down.
lay eggplants on top of each other, to make sure that the steam can easily reach each eggplant
steam for 5 minutes with high heat
they look like this after steamed
I steamed two more pots to make a comparison
in this pot, the skin is facing down and no vinegar treatment
they look like this after cooked
in the other pot, the skin is facing up, no vinegar treatment neither
The color is not so satisfied
for this vinegar treated eggplant, although few corners are brown
for the entire batch the purple color looks darker and nicer.
turn around, other side is pretty white
There is no left sour taste after steaming, actually the eggplant tastes sweeter
after it is cooled, let's open one
you can see the inside is snow white
Now, I will show you the frying method
If you don't want them to absorb too much oil, don't cut them open.
fry them as a whole
since the skin is closed, the steam can't come out, it is a steaming process for the eggplants inside
fry each one for about 1 minute. The color will turn brown if fried for too long
In general the color looks good after fried
but there will be one side looks a bit brown
after it is cooled, open one
you don't see much oil inside
whether steamed or fried. after cooled, tear them into smaller pieces
add chopped green onions and garlic
a little bit Sichuan peppercorn powder
some chili powder according to your taste
and some salt
pour on smoking hot oil,
finally add some vinegar and sugar.
we made a very traditional north west style eggplant salad
Now, I am using the fried eggplants with same flavor method
The fried eggplants are crispier and less watery
it tastes slightly better.
but the frying process is not easy to control
steaming is simple
microwave oven method is similar to steaming
I won't show you today
in order to shoot this video, I bought so many packages of eggplants
and I have been eating this eggplant salad for the whole week
for my responsible attitude, please give a thumb up
This is Gao. Thanks for watching and see you next time.