Gourmet's Top 50 Women: #30 Barbara Tropp - Strange Flavored Eggplant

(Photo by Michael Maloney)

Barbara Tropp is noted for her book The Modern Art of  Chinese Cooking, and her Chinese restaurant in San Francisco The China Moon Cafe which opened in San Francisco in 1986. In 1997, she sold the restaurant while battling cancer. It would be a battle she would continue to fight for many years until 2001 when the disease took her. She noted ironically, that she lived the "cancer-prevention" diet for most of her life (vegetables, fresh fish). Unfortunately genetics would trump diet.

But she made her mark in a field she was passionate about. In a high school art class, she discovered Chinese art and culture and never looked back. She studied Chinese in college and then went on to doctoral studies at Princeton. During a two-year study-abroad in Taiwan, she was lucky enough to be placed with host families who were passionate about their food. Tropp paid attention and when she returned to the states, she left her thesis project behind ("I had picked a helplessly obscure topic in Chinese poetics and was in way over my head." From: Wikipedia) She moved to San Francisco to be closer to authentic Chinese markets and found her calling. She worked at recreating the foods she had in Taiwan and was amazed how little truly authentic Chinese restaurants existed. With her book and restaurant, she changed all that.

Information on her remarkable life can be found here and here.

I choose to make her "Strange-Flavored Eggplant" (aka Eggplant Caviar) which I found at Culinate. The recipe is from The China Moon Cookbook based on the dishes she served at the China Moon Cafe. 

As Italians are great eggplant-lovers and roast it, chop it, fry it, grill it, bread it and cheese it, I thought it would be interesting to see how it would be prepared in Chinese cooking.   I made it for Epiphany (taking down the tree) when there are expectations of savory hors d'oeuvres to offset the sweetness of the holidays. It did not disappoint. 

NOTE: Everyone (everyone but the cat) is "mindfully eating" in my home - including my husband who is on the first diet of my life (and his wails and trials and tribulations could feed a book, sorry honey - you're talking to an ex-actress who had to diet when she was a size 8!). And even when mindfully eating, nobody wants a platter of carrots and celery in front of them. That is so 90's. 

Ignore the title of the recipe - there is nothing strange about the flavor (except that it is brown and does not have a good side to photograph). It is silky, earthy with just enough garlic and ginger and sesame to keep you interested. It is best served after being refrigerated over night - and be still my heart - just continues to improve with time! My kind of recipe. You don't have to eat it all in one fell swoop. But we did.

Strange-Flavor Eggplant 

Eggplant

1 to 1-1/4 pound eggplant (any style)

2 tablespoons corn or peanut oil

1/2 teaspoon Japanese sesame oil (I used toasted sesame oil)

- garlic croutons - (sorry, I skipped those - that "mindfully eating thing")

Aromatics

1 tablespoon finely minced garlic

1 tablespoon finely minced garlic

1/4 cup thinly sliced green onion

1/2-1/2 teaspoon dried red chilie flakes

Sauce

3 tablespoons soy sauce

3 tablespoons packed brown sugar (I used half of that; I don't have a sweet tooth)

1 teaspoon unseasoned Japanese rice vinegar (I used plain old unseasoned rice vinegar)

1 tablespoon hot water

Preheat oven to 475 degrees F and place rack in the middle of the oven. Prick the eggplant all over with a fork and remove the leaves. Bake on a baking sheet for 20-40 minutes turning once until fork tender. (I baked it for 30 minutes.) Remove from baking sheet and slit in half to speed up cooling process.

While still warm, scrape eggplant pulp away from the peel and ends. (I scraped away some very seedy parts.) Process with baking juices on a food processor (I think you could also mash it very well.)

Combine aromatics in a small dish.

Combine sauce ingredients in a small dish stirring to dissolve the sugar (yes, there are a few dishes - this is Chinese cooking!).

Heat a wok or large skillet on high heat (a droplet of water should evaporate when it touches the skillet). Add corn or peanut oil. Swirl and reduce heat to moderately high. Add aromatics and stir 15 seconds being careful not to scorch (lower the heat if you see that happening). Add the sauce and stir well to blend. When it simmers, add the eggplant and combine well. Remove from heat and taste. If necessary add more vinegar, chilie flakes or sugar. (I didn't - but of course - I had no idea how it should taste so went with trusting the recipe.) Stir in the sesame oil. Allow to cool.

Store airtight in the refrigerator overnight allowing the flavors to blend. To serve: sprinkle scallions over the top and serve with croutons (I did a wheat-flax pita). It would also be good with those aforementioned crudites (notice I didn't say carrots and celery).

Note: it is a fair amount of work for a small appetizer. Also noted - it got scarfed down. Would I do it again? Maybe. I am seduced by sesame oil. Whenever I cook with it, the kitchen comes alive with people (at this point they are immune to garlic). And I am always intrigued when I leave my Italian comfort zone - where I "know" how things should taste and explore other flavors, other textures, other worlds. It's a New Year. New worlds are welcome.

If I Only Had a Brain Note: Yes, it would have been more attractive with scallions scattered over it.

Please check out what the other bloggers are doing for Week 30 of Female Chef Gourmet Game Changers. And if you want to join in the fun, e-mail Mary at  One Perfect Bite. Mary started this delectable journey. Next week is Donna Hay.

Val - More Than Burnt Toast, Joanne - Eats Well With Others, Taryn - Have Kitchen Will Feed

Susan - The Spice Garden, Claudia - A Seasonal Cook in Turkey, Heather - girlichef,

Miranda - Mangoes and Chutney, Jeanette - Healthy Living, April - Abby Sweets

Katie - Making Michael Pollan Proud, Mary - One Perfect Bite, Kathleen - Bake Away with Me

Viola - The Life is Good Kitchen, Sue - The View from Great Island, Barbara - Movable Feasts

Kathleen - Gonna Want Seconds, Amy - Beloved Green, Linda - Ciao Chow Linda

Linda A - There and Back Again, Martha - Lines from Linderhof, Nancy - Picadillo

Mireya - My Healthy Eating Habits, Veronica - My Catholic Kitchen

Annie - Most Lovely Things