Thursday, March 03, 2016

Thai Basil & Eggplant Stir-fry 塔香茄子

After long thought about how I should restart my food blog, I have decided to go another direction. Instead of collage pictorials, I have decided to increase my work load (as if I didn't already have enough things to do) and switch to videos! Yes, it's a scary step, but thanks to my video-editing guru husband, he made it simple for me to start out with my iPhone and its built-in functions. I'm still getting used to this, but so far it's been fun planning out meals and trying new recipes again.

The first wave of videos will be a series of simple stir-fries. Why? Because they're so easy and each dish takes less than 5 minutes to cook. It's also easier for me to find Asian ingredients living in Taipei so I'll be updating more often, I hope!

This first video is a recipe for a Thai Basil & Eggplant stir-fry. That's an english translation for 塔香茄子. This recipe is fairly easy if you don't mind spending a little time frying the eggplants. Why go that extra step to deep fry them? Because if you don't, they will most likely turn out soggy and won't retain its purple color. I love fried foods but I hate frying them myself... so this is probably the first time I've cooked eggplants in 5 years. Another ingredient you'll need is Thai-basil. In Taiwan, we call it 九層塔 (Jiǔcéngtǎ) and according to google, Thai basil is its direct translation... so don't blame me if I'm wrong. The taste of Thai basil is a lot stronger and more distinctive than your regular Italian basil, so a little goes a long way... but for me, the more flavor the better! If you can't find Thai basil near you, I guess you can substitute it with regular basil too. It won't be as fragrant, but i'm sure it'll still be yummy! Enjoy the video, watch in HD, and subscribe to my YouTube for more in the future!


Thai Basil & Eggplant Stir-fry 塔香茄子 
INGREDIENTS:

  • Oil for deep frying
  • 400g Eggplants, sliced
  • 2 teaspoons of olive oil
  • 1 tablespoon of minced garlic
  • 1 teaspoon of minced fresh ginger
  • Red chili peppers, as desired (optional)
  • 2 tablespoons soy sauce
  • 100 mL water
  • 2 teaspoons sugar
  • One bunch of Thai basil
  • 1/2 teaspoon sesame oil

METHOD:

  1. In a pot, heat up oil until 180'C and fry eggplants for 1 minute. Remove the eggplants, drain, and set aside. 
  2. In a heated wok, add in olive oil. Next, add the garlic, ginger, chili peppers and fry until fragrant. 
  3. Add in the soy sauce, water, sugar and cook on low heat until the sugar has dissolved. 
  4. Mix in the eggplants and stir-fry for another minute. 
  5. Add in the Thai basil, quickly fry for 30 seconds. 
  6. Drizzle a little bit of sesame oil before plating. Enjoy!

Thai Basil & Eggplant Stir-fry 塔香茄子

5 comments:

  1. Wow!! The video makes it look so simple. I'm going to try this!!

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  2. Oh and you are right about the video! I love watching the videos on the Tasty facebook page, even though I don't cook, because they make the process look fun and easy and help you visualize the steps. So your effort is worth it!!

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    Replies
    1. We watch those videos all the time too! That's where we got the idea to make our own. we're searching for a new camera at the moment, hopefully it'll look better in the future

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    ReplyDelete