I’ve got this (perhaps crazy) idea to make Ma Po Eggplant. That is, substitute eggplant for tofu in the classic Chinese recipe. I’ve got my version of Ma Po Tofu down pretty well, but I really don’t know how to prepare eggplant. My goal is to get it nice and soft, but still have some taste to it.
Searching around, I see that it is usually baked. Should I bake it first, and then stir-fry afterwards? What about the bit about sprinkling it with salt, letting it sit for half an hour, and then mopping up the moisture? Is this something I need to do?
It’s not THAT crazy. Googling Ma Po Eggplant comes up with lots of hits. Eggplant + ground pork + spice is a pretty common Asian dish.
I don’t worry about salting or baking or any of that before stir-frying eggplant. You could bake it, but I don’t think it’s necessary. The one key to cooking eggplant is that it needs to be cooked long enough that it gets that nice, creamy texture. Undone eggplant is not unpalatable, but it’s also not all that great. When it transforms into the creamy goodness is when eggplant is absolutely delicious.
So for Ma Po eggplant, I’d add a steaming step after you stir fry it so that it cooks all the way through. Just get the whole thing together, and when it’s done, cover and braise in the liquid for 10-15 minutes, so the eggplant cooks all the way through.
OK, that’s pretty much what I do to the tofu anyway, only not quite as long. I steam it in chicken stock for about 5 minutes to get it nice and tender. I’ll go longer on the eggplant, and sample it to see what the right amount of time is.
Never occurred to me to google this specific dish, but I guess there is nothing new under the sun…
I never had it growing up either, but (like you) after having it at a few restaurants, have grown to love it. The NY Times just had a cool feature on eggplant - shows you exactly how versatile it is.
I’m also finding different types of eggplant in the local farmer’s markets and such this year. Long skinny Japanese eggplants, little tiny round eggplants, etc. They taste pretty much the same but the skins are more tender, which I like. The big purple ones in the grocery stores can have tough skins I’ve found.
I agree. While I love the big ones for eggplant parm I really like the japanese variety for stir fry because you don’t have to peel it. I honestly don’t think I’ve ever had an eggplant dish I didn’t like.
I say try it. The wotst that happens is you eat some chewy skins (or spit them out). Either way you will have learned weather or not you can use small Italian ones or if Japanese are required. Alternatively you could peel them.
I’m curious to see what happens - report back!
I have eggplant envy for all you people who can buy the Italian and Japanese ones all the time; it’s only been in the last year or two that I can get anything but the big purple ones, and only at certain times of the year.
These smaller ones were available at the grocery this week. I think they had an even smaller version along with the regular, large ones. I don’t usually shop for them, so I don’t know if they are generally available year-round, but we generally get a lot of stuff from Mexico and South America in the winter, so it wouldn’t surprise me if they were.
Just had it, and it was pretty good. I steamed the eggplant for about 12 minutes.
I miscalculated on shrinkage-- seemed like a lot of eggplant prior, but it wasn’t quite enough. I think next time I may just use it as an addition to Ma Po Tofu, though, as I kinda missed the tofu in the dish.
So, maybe the same amount of eggplant, or a little bit less, and an equal amount of tofu. And I cubed the eggplant, but I think it might be better if it were in longer strips. Maybe 1 1/2" long.
