Another year, another failed eggplant attempt. Similar to my first failed eggplant attempt a few years ago, this latest effort also centered around a spicy Sichuan-style eggplant. For this attempt, I used a Serious Eats recipe given my great success with their other Sichuan recipes of late.
Unfortunately, this recipe turned out a bit of a mess – but at least it was better than my 2012 eggplant attempt! The eggplant was edible, though the texture continued to feel simultaneously under and over-cooked.
Part of the issue may have been using standard eggplant from a relative's garden, instead of the thinner Chinese or Japanese versions called for in the recipe.
In addition, I didn't exactly follow the salt-to-water ratio called for in the brining step, thinking that free-styling it would be sufficient to break down the eggplant cell structure.
I then cooked for the eggplant for longer than called for in the recipe to try to achieve a more cooked texture, but to no avail.
The final flavor of the sauce was excellent though, even though I didn't include the hot vinegar / bird chile mixture simply because I didn't have any bird chiles at home. I will probably give some version of this recipe another go, but after more research about how to tackle the dreaded eggplant!
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