Ik kan het niet meer Aubergine*

*In Dutch I always say this sentence when I lost the big picture. Normally you'd say 'Ik kan het niet meer overzien', but the pronounciation of 'overzien' and 'aubergine' is somewhat similar.

The Aubergine is known by many names. Melongene, Garden Egg, Guinea squash, but mostly known as Eggplant. Although the Dutch name is aubergine, I will refer to it as Eggplant from now on. Eggplant, always thought it was the strangest name for a fruitvegetable. Breaking down the word to egg and plant doesn't help much. It doesn't look like an egg and isn't a plant but the fruit of a plant. After some websurfing I found some answers.

"The name of eggplant was given it by Europeans in the middle of the eighteenth century because the variety they knew had fruits that were the shape and size of goose eggs. That variety also had fruits that are a whitish or yellowish color rather than the wine purple that is more familiar to us nowadays. So the sort they knew really did look as though it had fruits like eggs." -source

 Now a days the eggplant looks probably way different then in the 18th century. This fruit, that we eat as a vegetable is a species of the Nightshade family. Making the tomato and potato his siblings.

The eggplant is native to Asia. So no wonder that my mom and dad used eggplant for a Chinese stew dish. I always liked the taste, but the texture and look of it made me think of slugs. Turning the eggplant in one of my least favorite vegetables.
Since I started cooking, I only used eggplant for non-Asian dishes. I started to use it we've been eating more and more Mediterranean. Giving it a different taste, texture and visually better then my memories. 

Chinese Eggplant, Thais Eggplant, Indian Eggplant 

sketch from Artist Book #2 USA, august 2012

In the summer of 2012 I rediscovered the eggplant for Chinese dishes. I was in one of my favorite restaurants in Los Angeles County. The food is so good, that I dreamed about it since my previous visit 4 years before. Together with my friend and cousin we picked Eggplant with Shrimp Schezuan** style. Since the moment I tasted it, I was sold. Now I dream about this dish. 

** Talking about Schezuan/Szechwan/Szechuan/Sichuan, this can refer to a province in China or the Schezuan pepper, also known as the numbing pepper. Although they use the Schezuan pepper a lot in the Schezuan province cuisine. For half a year I lived in China, in the neighborprovince of Schezuan (Chongqing was originally part of Schezuan, but became his own province), making the numbing pepper a big part of the Chongqing cuisine.  What I even find more interesting is that I've seen many different spellings for this province since then. Szechwan, Szechuan, Schezuan, for me the right spelling is in pinyin Sichuan.  四川, translation: 4 rivers, pointing to the 4 rivers that go through the original (Sichuan & Chongqing) province.

In China I ate a lot of eggplant, Sichuan** style or somewhat different. But it never tasted the same as the one from Top Island Restaurant. Now back in Holland, with the taste of my Eggplant with Shrimp Schezuan style still fresh from last January, I started looking for a similar recipe. After some websurfing and nosing about in my Chinese/Asian cookbooks, I somewhat reconstructed my favorite eggplant dish.

Indian Eggplant, Chinese Eggplant, Thai Eggplant

from the Hawaii Market, San Gabriel, Los Angeles County

Eggplant Sichuan style vegan 
source & The Land of the Five Flavors by T.O. Höllmann & The Chinese Vegan Kitchen by D. Klein
In Holland it's hard and expensive to buy Chinese Eggplants, so I always use the regular eggplants from the store. But If you come across some Chinese Eggplants, affordable and good looking, why not?

3 Eggplants
2 Green Onions, sliced
3 cm of fresh Ginger, cut julienne
3 cloves of Gralic, minced
1 Chile, sliced and preferably deseeded
1/2 cup of vegetable broth
3 tablespoons of Soy Sauce
1 tablespoon of Sugar
1 tablespoon of rice vingar
1 tablespoon of cornstarch
Oil 
Sesame oil
Seasoning
Optional for granish: toasted Sesame seeds, Thai basil, Cilantro

Cut the eggplants in 1/2 lengthwise and then slice crosswise into wedges, bite size pieces. If using a regular eggplant you could salt the eggplant first. To get rid of the excess water. Place eggplant in a colander and sprinkle with salt. Toss it around so the salt is mixed in well. Let it drip for half an hour or so.

Heat a wok or large skillet over medium-high flame and add the oils; tilt the pan to coat all sides. When you see a slight smoke, add a layer of eggplant, stir-fry until seared and sticky, about 3 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. Remove the eggplant to a side platter and cook the remaining eggplant in same manner, adding more oil, if needed.

After all the eggplant is out of the pan, add the green onions, ginger, garlic, and chile; stir-fry for a minute until fragrant. Add the broth. In a small bowl, mix the soy sauce, vinegar, sugar, and cornstarch until the sugar and cornstarch are dissolved. Pour the soy sauce mixture into the wok and cook another minute, until the sauce has thickened. Put the eggplant back in the pan, tossing quickly, until the sauce is absorbed. Garnish with sesame seeds, Thai basil, and cilantro and serve.

I love eating this with steamed rice, as a main or a side. Enjoy!