Steamed eggplant with spicy sesame sauce. These eggplants are a very easy and quick dish to prepare, light and delicious. I discovered with this dish that eggplants can be steamed. And from that moment on, I make them often, not only using this delicious sesame sauce, but also with much simpler condiments, such as vinegar, salt and oil, resulting in a salad.
To obtain an excellent result with eggplants that are not blackened, we will immerse them in cold water with rice vinegar and sugar. Usually for this recipe it is foreseen the use of Chinese eggplants, thinner and with an elongated shape. Since they are hard to find, I usually use the classic Italian prosperous eggplants. The only difference is that, while the Chinese ones are more tender and cook in about 10 minutes, for these they need from 13 to 15 minutes.
I wanted to try to cook these aubergines together with 3 other traditional Chinese dishes, all at the same time in my VIVO Vapojet steamer, which allows you to cook up to 3 levels of food together, while maintaining uniform cooking. Furthermore, from various tests carried out, I have also noticed that if you order the dishes with a little cunning, placing those that could give taste to others on the upper floors, you get foods that perfectly preserve their flavors and are not contaminated by rest of the content.
In the case of using all 3 levels, it is necessary to pay attention to the correct positioning of the metal plate to collect the water. In fact, it is usually positioned with the hole upwards, in correspondence with the button.
VIVO Vapojet | Electric instant steamer
- Instant steam: produces steam in less than 30 seconds
- Micro steam: micro-atomized steam for maximum delicacy and cooking uniformity
- 0% BPA: Constructed with quality materials – 304 steel and BPA-free plastics
- Efficient: you save water, energy and time
- Space-saving: foldable and can be placed on the wall to take up very little space
- High capacity: spacious and with two shelves
Recipe: Steamed eggplant with spicy sesame sauce
Ingredients (eggplants):
- 500g eggplant (corresponding to 2-3 Chinese eggplants, or 1 prosperous eggplant)
- 5g peeled ginger
- 2 cloves of garlic
- 1 spring onion
- 1.5 tablespoons of seed oil
- 1 Tsp of toasted sesame seeds
- 2 Tbsp of white rice vinegar
- 1 Tsp sugar
Ingredients (sauce):
- 2 Tbsp of tahini
- 1 Tbsp of spicy oil
- 2 Tbsp of soy sauce
- 1.5 Tbsp black rice vinegar
- ½ Tbsp of sesame oil
- ½ Tbsp sugar
- salt
Directions:
- First, take care of preparing the aubergine, washing and drying it well and then cutting it first into slices and then into sticks, about 1cm thick per side. If the skin of the eggplant is in good condition, clean it carefully, but do not remove it.
- Then dip it in cold water with 2 tablespoons of white rice vinegar and a teaspoon of sugar and leave it to soak for about 10 minutes.
- Then drain it well and arrange the sticks neatly on a flat plate that has a shape that can be used inside your steamer.
- Steam the aubergines for about ten minutes, if you are using Chinese aubergines, for 13-15 minutes if you are using globose or prosperous aubergines instead.
- In the meantime, take care of preparing the sauce. Start with the spring onion by cutting the white and then the green part into slices and separating them. Then chop the garlic and peeled ginger with a knife.
- Then prepare the sauce by mixing the tahini with soy sauce, spicy oil, rice vinegar, sesame oil, sugar and a pinch of sauces.
- In a saucepan, heat the seed oil and fry the spring onion (only the white part), the garlic and the ginger. Then, when still hot, add the rest of the sauce and mix well.
- As soon as your aubergines are cooked, sprinkle them with the freshly prepared sauce. Then garnish with the sesame seeds and the green part of the spring onion.
- You can enjoy your aubergines as a side dish, or even use them as a single dish if accompanied with a little steamed rice.
