Thursday, March 29, 2007

Eggplant Tomato Medley

In Chinese, the word for eggplant (茄子) and tomato (番茄) share a common character 茄 (qie2). So I've named this dish 双茄香 (means fragrant or tasty two qie2).


ingredients
-1 eggplant (thin variety, not the huge fat ones)
-2 tomatoes (best kind you can find/afford)
-1 or 2 pieces of garlic
-1/2 tablespoon of sugar (optional)
-pinch of salt
-1 teaspoon corn starch
-a few tablespoons of water
-cooking oil

directions
1. mince or slice garlic
2. cut eggplant and tomatoes into wedges, don't mix the two.
3. heat oil in pan, add garlic.
4. add eggplant, cook until somewhat soft.
5. add tomatoes, cook until juices come out (or if you like raw tomatoes, toss around a bit for only a few seconds)
6. add sugar and salt. stir well.
7. mix corn starch in water, pour mixture into pan.
8. coat eggplant and tomatoes with starch mixture.
9. enjoy the red and purple delight!

p.s. can someone tell me how to cook eggplant and keep their brilliant purple color? my eggplants always turn out somewhat dullish colored.

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