Chinese noodle salad w/ roasted eggplant

6 Servings

Ingredients

Quantity Ingredient
1 clove garlic -- finely

Directions

: The Noodles & The Marinade 7 TB low sodium soy sauce

3 TB balsamic vinegar

3 TB sugar -- or more to taste

2½ ts red pepper oil

8 ea scallions -- mostly white

: part,

: thinly sliced

3 TB cilantro -- chopped

14 oz Chinese noodles

: The Eggplant & The Vegetable : Garnish

1 lb Japenese eggplant

1 TB ginger root -- 1 ½ oz.

: peeled &

: minced

: chopped

: Reserved Marinade, from : above

4 oz snow peas -- strings removed : cut

: in narrow strips

½ lb mung bean sprouts

3 TB sesame seeds

1 ea carrot -- medium size, cut : in

: jullienne

: Cilantro leaves -- for : garnish

Begin by making the marinade. Combine all the ingredients (except the noodles) in a bowl, stir them together until the sugar is dissolved.

Next, bring a large pot of water to a boil for the noodles. While it is heating, gentl y pull apart the strands of no odles with your fingers, loosening and fluffing them as you do so. Add the noodles to the boiling water without any salt, and give them a quick stir w ith a fork or a pair of chopsticks. Cook briefly until they are done but no t overly soft, a few minutes a t most. Immediately pour them into a colander and rinse them in cold water to stop the cooking. Shake the colander vigorously to get rid of as much wa ter as possible, and put the noodles into a bowl. Stir the marinade again; then pour half of it over the noodles and toss the m with your hands to distribute the marinade. Set the remaining marinade as ide. If the noodles aren't to be used for a while, cover them with plastic and refrigerate them. The flav ors, as well as the heat in the red pepper oil, will develop as the noodles sit. Preheat the oven to 400=B0F.

Pierce the eggplants in several places and bak e them until they are soft and their skins have shriveled, about 20 minutes , depending on their size. Turn them over after 10 minutes so they will bak e evenly. When the eggplants are done, remove them to a cutting board and slice them in half lengthwise. Wh en they are cool enough to handle, peel the skin away from the flesh. Don't worry about any small pieces of skin that are difficult to remove - the fl ecks of dark purple - brown ar e pretty. Shred the eggplants, gently tearing them into ¼ - inch strips. Add the ginger and garlic to the reserved marinade, then the eggplant strip s. Turn the pieces over several times to make sure all the surfaces are wel l coated, and set them aside. Bring a quart of water to a boil with a teaspoon of salt.

Blanch the snow p eas until they are bright green; then remove them with a strainer and rinse them in cool water. Cut them into long, narrow strips and set them aside. Next, put the sprouts in the w ater and cook them for about 30 seconds. Pour them into a colander, rinse t hem with cold water, and lay them on a clean kitchen towel to dry.

Roast the sesame seeds in a pan until they are lightly colored and smell to asty. If the noodles have been refrigerated, allow them to come to room temperatu re; then toss them with the eggplant strips and half the sesame seeds. Moun d them on a platter, distribute the carrots, snow peas, and mung bean sprou ts over the noodles, and garni sh with the remaining sesame seeds and the leafy branches of cilantro. Pres ent the salad like this, layered and laced with the colorful garnishes, eit her on a single large platter or on individual plates. Once served, guests can toss the noodles and veget ables together to thoroughly mingle the different colors, textures, and tas tes. This salad is a combination of recipes that were suggested to us by the Chi na scholar and cook, Barbara Tropp, author of The Modern Art of Chinese Coo king. She thought they would be particularly well suited to our vegetarian menu, and they are.

Variations: Instead of sesame seeds, use roasted peanuts or cashew nuts. Bl= ack sesame seeds can also be mixed with the white. In spring, blanched aspa= ragus tips can be used in place of the eggplants, and long red or white rad= ishes, thinly sliced, then sli vered, can be included among the garnishes.

Serves 4 to six.

Recipe By : Greens Cookbook/Eric Rose

Related recipes