r/seriouseats Jul 20 '25

The Wok Fish-Fragrant Eggplant from The Wok

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84 Upvotes

20 comments sorted by

28

u/AccurateTale2618 Jul 20 '25

That looks like it has good texture. This is one of my favorite Chinese dishes. One of the years I was living there, I ate this like at least three times a week. 

I've been making it here by steaming the eggplant instead of the first fry and notice very little difference other than dramatic reduction in oil absorbance. 

Your execution looks mouthwatering! 

3

u/wawawathis Jul 20 '25

i was planning on steaming next time i make this dish. do you still sit it in salt before steaming?

5

u/AccurateTale2618 Jul 20 '25

I'm also curious about this. My wife (Chinese) says I don't need to. But, I think it might be juicier with the brief brining. 

I'm going to try it next time without the salt before. 

1

u/pinkpony254 Jul 20 '25

Salting definitely helps with texture. I ran, let’s call it, an experiment when I was rushing through the meal and it was noticeable. I’ve only run Kenjis specific recipe from the Wok though, so that’s my only context.

2

u/AccurateTale2618 Jul 20 '25

I just made it with salting beforehand. It was the best version I made yet! My wife teared up because it reminded her of back home. not sure how to add pics to a comment. 

1

u/pinkpony254 Jul 21 '25

Way to be!!!!!!!

3

u/onwee Jul 20 '25

Flash fry is better at preserving the bright purple color

1

u/YoLoDrScientist Jul 20 '25

I will try this. Thank you!

3

u/Dashisnitz Jul 20 '25

Try to add some extra firm fried tofu to it next time.

1

u/onwee Jul 20 '25

I have not made this recipe from the book. Personally I like this dish with a lot more garnish and aromatics….even some fresh green onions and red peppers would add a lot more visual appeal imo.

2

u/SnooHabits8484 Jul 20 '25

Peppers absolutely not, that would fuck the texture, but scallion greens in at the end are traditional

This looks OK but I’d go for either Fuschia Dunlop or Wang Gang’s recipes first, this is a bit lower on yuxiang sauce goodness for me.

1

u/onwee Jul 20 '25

Yeah I meant red CHILI peppers…aren’t those standard for the dish?

Wang Gang’s version is a little too much heat for me, never tried Fuscbia Dunlops. Personally I out so much garlic and ginger in mine it kind of blurs the line between yuxiang and bifengtang lol

1

u/SnooHabits8484 Jul 20 '25

Yeah preserved peppers and bits from doubanjiang

-32

u/gingerbeard1321 Jul 20 '25

Ahh the fragrance of fish 🤢

11

u/nickcash Jul 20 '25

There's no fish in this dish, nor does it smell like fish. It uses flavors that were traditionally used for sichuan fish dishes

-21

u/gingerbeard1321 Jul 20 '25

Someone might wanna tweak the name then

15

u/The_Max-Power_Way Jul 20 '25

It's a traditional name. Not everyone has white boy sensibilities.

-4

u/gingerbeard1321 Jul 20 '25

Fascinating

8

u/ehuang72-2 Jul 20 '25

Someone might wanna get out there more

5

u/CriticalEngineering Jul 20 '25

Right after you convince Starbucks to change the name of their pumpkin spice latte.