[0 - 1] - Hello, my name is Andrew.
[1 - 2] And in this video
[2 - 5] you're gonna see me cook a lot of eggplant.
[5 - 7] This is part of an ongoing series on the channel
[7 - 10] where I cook many recipes featuring one ingredient,
[10 - 12] usually making things I've never made before,
[12 - 14] often not getting it exactly right.
[14 - 17] But there's something about experiencing the same ingredient
[17 - 19] over and over again in quick succession
[19 - 21] that I think can teach you a lot about that ingredient.
[21 - 23] It's also very fun for me to do.
[24 - 25] Eggplant, in my experience,
[25 - 28] is one of the most commonly disliked vegetables.
[28 - 31] And the complaint I often hear is that it ends up mushy
[31 - 32] in whatever dish it is.
[32 - 35] But I think that actually, when properly harnessed,
[35 - 39] that mushiness is the eggplant's greatest asset.
[39 - 42] Many of the recipes in this video were suggested to me
[42 - 43] on my Instagram.
[43 - 44] So if you're one of the people who gave me a suggestion,
[44 - 46] thank you very much.
[46 - 47] I've already made all these recipes,
[47 - 48] and now I'm gonna take you through
[48 - 50] how those experiences went.
[50 - 52] The first thing I made was eggplant parm.
[52 - 55] And this is a thing that I've made many times in the past
[55 - 58] but I wanted to try a new variation that I thought of
[58 - 59] in this recipe.
[59 - 63] To begin, I began peeling and slicing my eggplant.
[63 - 66] And my peeler was actually not really up to the task
[66 - 68] to that thick skin of the eggplant
[68 - 71] so I ended up just carefully slicing away the exterior
[71 - 72] of my eggplants.
[72 - 74] I then cut them into planks.
[74 - 78] And even though eggplant has sort of a dry sponge texture
[78 - 81] when you immediately slice it, once salt hits it,
[81 - 83] the water beads to the surface immediately.
[83 - 85] While the eggplant was sitting,
[85 - 88] I began making a simple tomato sauce with garlic, onion,
[88 - 90] some jarred chilies that I had,
[90 - 92] and then two large cans of tomato.
[92 - 94] Next it's time to fry the eggplant.
[94 - 98] So I begin by dredging them in flour, egg wash,
[98 - 101] and then breadcrumbs, and then frying them in olive oil.
[101 - 105] And I've found that using a smaller pot is better
[105 - 107] for getting a consistent result,
[107 - 109] even though it takes a very long time
[109 - 110] to fry them individually like this.
[111 - 112] And I think this is the first best example
[112 - 114] of what is so good about an eggplant
[114 - 118] because if it's fried crispy on the outside
[118 - 122] if the inside does become mush, you then have a tender,
[123 - 126] creamy texture suspended in crispiness.
[126 - 128] And this eggplant is obviously not fully cooked,
[128 - 130] because it's gonna be baked later, but you get the idea.
[130 - 132] Then it's assembly.
[132 - 133] In a large dish,
[133 - 135] I put some of that tomato sauce on the bottom
[135 - 138] then a layer of the eggplant, more of the sauce, some basil,
[138 - 142] then some shredded mozzarella and Parmesan cheese,
[142 - 143] and then continue to layer that
[143 - 145] until all the eggplant is gone.
[145 - 149] So the variation I wanted to try was putting a bechamel
[149 - 150] on the top layer,
[150 - 154] a bechamel being equal parts butter and flour
[154 - 158] toasted together and then warm milk whisked into that.
[159 - 161] And then pouring that over just the top layer
[161 - 162] of the eggplant parm
[162 - 165] and sprinkling Parmesan cheese over that.
[165 - 166] And of course, when I looked this up,
[166 - 168] this is not an original idea.
[168 - 170] Other people have done this sort of bechamel eggplant parm
[171 - 175] But the idea I had was that if you have mozzarella
[175 - 176] on the top layer,
[176 - 181] sometimes that melted mozzarella is not going to cut easily
[181 - 183] with the edge of your fork.
[183 - 185] You have that unbreakable sheet of cheese,
[185 - 186] you're gonna end up squeezing
[186 - 188] all the ingredients underneath.
[188 - 191] So the bechamel, in my mind, was a solution for that
[191 - 195] while still having this creamy cheese layer on top.
[195 - 198] Ultimately I don't think this contributed a whole lot
[198 - 200] to the final eggplant parm.
[200 - 202] I think in the future I'd rather just do tomato sauce
[202 - 204] and Parmesan on the top layer.
[204 - 207] So I had a tremendous amount of eggplant parm
[207 - 209] and I was looking for other ways to enjoy it.
[210 - 212] And I remembered this classic way of having eggplant,
[212 - 217] which is with a fried chicken cutlet, prosciutto, and eggplant.
[217 - 218] So when I was getting a little tired
[218 - 222] of the eggplant on its own, I fried up some chicken cutlets.
[222 - 224] And as a sandwich, I layered that
[224 - 228] with some of my eggplant parm that I cut in two
[228 - 232] and put some fresh mozzarella that I broiled on top of that.
[232 - 233] And this was tremendous.
[233 - 235] But I think it's another cool example
[235 - 238] of how eggplant can lend its creamy texture to something.
[238 - 241] Did I make this sandwich really big
[241 - 243] so that it would look good on camera? Yeah.
[243 - 247] Did I eat the whole thing and not regret a moment of it? Also yeah.
[247 - 250] The next thing I made was fish fragrant eggplant,
[250 - 252] a Szechuan braised eggplant.
[252 - 254] And in researching recipes,
[254 - 258] I saw a lot of individual variation of exact ingredients
[258 - 259] and techniques used.
[259 - 260] So I referenced recipes
[260 - 264] from the YouTube channels Made with Lao and Chef Wang.
[264 - 266] So I began by cutting the eggplant.
[266 - 268] And I followed the technique Chef Wang did
[268 - 272] where he's rotating the eggplant a 1/4 turn after every cut
[272 - 276] which creates this sort of irregular repeating shape.
[276 - 280] I then fried all of those pieces of eggplant until golden.
[280 - 283] And I'm not sure if this is just a trick of the eyes
[283 - 285] or if it's actually similar to how
[285 - 288] when you blanch greens they become more vibrantly green,
[288 - 290] but the eggplant after frying seemed
[290 - 293] to be a richer purple color.
[293 - 294] I then prepared some of the other ingredients,
[294 - 299] minced garlic, minced ginger, and pickled chilis.
[299 - 303] A lot of recipes I saw used a small portion of minced pork.
[303 - 304] And in Chef Wang's video
[304 - 306] he actually uses a little bit of lard.
[306 - 309] So I used some leftover tallow I had.
[309 - 311] Into that I put my minced garlic, ginger,
[311 - 313] and pickled chilies.
[313 - 316] Into that I put some doubanjiang, which is a paste
[316 - 318] of fermented beans and chilies.
[318 - 321] Then goes in the eggplant which is all tossed together.
[321 - 325] Then it's seasoned with a little bit of sugar and salt. Soy sauce.
[325 - 328] Then there's some starch slurry added to thicken the sauce.
[328 - 330] Finally, the green onion is mixed in.
[330 - 333] It's funny, after completing it I realized
[333 - 336] that the stir frying process happens so quickly
[336 - 340] that even with the extra 10 or 15 seconds
[340 - 342] that I added every time I moved the camera,
[342 - 345] the eggplant cooked longer than I intended it to,
[345 - 348] but the flavor is still so delicious.
[348 - 350] The eggplant is meltingly tender,
[350 - 352] and all these aromatics combine
[352 - 356] into something that's actually quite savory and rich.
[356 - 358] Overall though, so delicious.
[358 - 361] And I see myself making a lot of this in the future.
[361 - 363] The next thing I made was ratatouille, probably one
[363 - 367] of the most commonly associated eggplant recipes.
[367 - 369] So I began by cubing my vegetables.
[369 - 373] There was the eggplant, zucchini, and yellow squash.
[373 - 376] I then salted all of those vegetables
[376 - 377] and allowed them to sit.
[377 - 381] Then in olive oil, I began pan frying these vegetables
[381 - 383] in batches, so as not to crowd
[383 - 385] and just steam the vegetables.
[385 - 387] And because all of these squashes and eggplants
[387 - 390] are so absorbent, you end up using quite a bit of oil,
[390 - 395] but this is ultimately what's going to make the ratatouille so delicious.
[395 - 398] Then in the same pot I sauteed some onion
[398 - 400] as well as some red pepper, garlic.
[400 - 403] Then back into the pot went all of the squash and eggplant.
[403 - 405] Lastly, there were tomatoes.
[405 - 408] And I had this tremendous excess of little cherry tomatoes
[408 - 410] which were very sweet and delicious.
[410 - 413] So that's what I ended up using in this ratatouille.
[413 - 415] And then that whole mixture went into the oven
[415 - 417] for about 1/2 an hour, 40 minutes,
[417 - 419] until everything was nice and tender.
[419 - 421] And this was a tremendous amount
[421 - 425] so it ended up becoming on the mushier, stewier side
[425 - 426] which is actually my preference.
[426 - 429] I like it sort of like, almost like a condiment.
[429 - 433] But it also was going to serve my other purpose
[433 - 435] in making ratatouille, which was trying a variation
[435 - 438] of one of my other favorite dishes, stuffed cabbage.
[438 - 441] This is something I made previously in the cabbage video
[441 - 442] and it's something I've been eating my whole life.
[442 - 444] But I had this idea that
[444 - 447] what would a summer holubtsi look like?
[447 - 451] So I parcooked some brown rice and then mixed that
[451 - 454] with a healthy amount of my leftover ratatouille
[454 - 458] along with some additional herbs, some green onion,
[458 - 461] and just because I saw it outta the corner of my eye,
[461 - 462] honestly, I added some pine nuts
[462 - 465] because I thought it would work in combination
[465 - 466] with everything else.
[466 - 469] I then begin the process of coring a head of cabbage
[469 - 471] and blanching it in hot water
[471 - 474] so that I could carefully remove the outside leaves
[474 - 476] that I would then use to make my rolls.
[476 - 479] I trimmed the fibrous center of the cabbage leaf
[479 - 482] and then put in my filling, rolled it together,
[482 - 484] and then put it into a pot to braise
[484 - 487] with a little bit of tomato sauce that was left over from,
[487 - 489] it was actually left over from the eggplant parm.
[489 - 491] And I didn't make too, too much
[491 - 494] because this was mostly an experiment for me.
[494 - 497] And I actually really liked the way that it came out.
[497 - 500] It had the same sort of stewed vegetable flavor
[500 - 502] of the ratatouille on its own,
[502 - 504] but now it was in this little delicious parcel.
[504 - 509] So it becomes this kind of complete little meal in itself.
[509 - 512] Because stuffed cabbage is essentially some grain
[513 - 516] and some other filling wrapped in a leaf and then braised,
[516 - 517] I've always thought
[517 - 519] that there could be a million variations of it.
[519 - 521] And so this is one that popped into my head.
[521 - 524] I made it, and I thought it came out pretty good.
[524 - 527] The next thing I made was melitzanosalata,
[527 - 529] which is a Greek eggplant dip.
[529 - 533] There are many similar dishes made around the Mediterranean
[533 - 534] and throughout the Middle East,
[534 - 536] but this is one that I happen to love a lot.
[536 - 540] And I referenced a recipe from Aki's Kitchen on YouTube.
[540 - 544] So I began by charring the eggplant on a charcoal grill.
[544 - 546] And there are a lot of different ways
[546 - 547] that you could cook the eggplant.
[547 - 548] You could do it in an oven.
[548 - 550] You could do it over a gas stove.
[550 - 551] But I wanted to use charcoal
[551 - 555] because to me, this is a dish that really reminds me
[555 - 558] of summer and that flavor of outdoor cooking.
[558 - 560] I also at the same time charred the skin
[560 - 562] of a red bell pepper.
[562 - 564] Often the objective of this step is described
[564 - 568] as charring the skin so that it is easier to remove
[568 - 571] and it will impart some smoke flavor into the vegetable.
[571 - 574] But my suspicion is that it's actually very important
[574 - 576] to thoroughly cook the eggplant
[576 - 581] so that it develops this sort of other flavor.
[581 - 582] I can't quite describe it,
[582 - 584] but there's the smell of the smoke,
[584 - 585] there's the smell of the cooking eggplant,
[585 - 588] but then there's this third sort of like,
[588 - 592] I don't know if it's caramelizing eggplant smell
[592 - 594] that suddenly emerges when it's cooked enough
[594 - 598] that always immediately reminds me of melitzanosalata.
[598 - 602] So in this instance, I chose to take it to the far extreme
[602 - 604] and cook them as thoroughly as I could
[604 - 607] before they were falling apart on the grill
[607 - 608] I then removed the skin of the eggplant
[609 - 612] and along with the pepper, chopped it as well as I could.
[612 - 616] I then also cut green onion, parsley, and grated some garlic
[616 - 620] and of course seasoning with salt, olive oil, lemon juice.
[620 - 623] You could run it through a food processor
[623 - 625] but I was doing this entirely outside.
[625 - 629] So mine honestly ended up on the coarser side of things.
[629 - 631] But I find it so delicious.
[631 - 635] And this is sort of the ultimate representation
[635 - 638] of what an eggplant's mush can become.
[638 - 639] Becomes a dip.
[639 - 643] Becomes a smooth thing that you can just scoop up and enjoy.
[643 - 645] And it is so tasty.
[645 - 647] The last thing I made was tortang talong
[647 - 650] which is this Filipino dish often described
[650 - 652] as an eggplant omelet.
[652 - 654] I referenced few recipes, but the first one was
[654 - 657] from the YouTube channel Panlasang Pinoy.
[657 - 660] So I began by taking the long, thin eggplant variety
[660 - 662] and charring its skin,
[662 - 664] this time just over the gas burner of my stove.
[664 - 668] Once they cooled a little bit, I peeled away all of the skin
[668 - 672] and then took the eggplant with a fork to smoosh it down
[672 - 674] into sort of a fan shape.
[674 - 676] I then seasoned that with salt.
[676 - 678] And I was starting with the most basic version of this.
[678 - 681] So I just took a couple of eggs whisked with some salt
[681 - 684] and pepper and then dipped that whole eggplant into that.
[684 - 688] And then in a hot, hot pan, I cooked that eggplant,
[688 - 691] pouring the residual egg on top.
[691 - 694] After carefully flipping it once, tortang talong was done.
[694 - 697] And I don't think I've ever been more surprised
[697 - 699] by a first bite of something I've cooked
[699 - 700] in one of these videos.
[700 - 703] It just immediately makes so much sense.
[703 - 707] The texture of the cooked eggplant is so in line
[707 - 710] with the texture of a perfect omelet,
[710 - 712] but with also this incredible flavor
[712 - 714] from the charred eggplant.
[714 - 718] It's also so smart that the eggplant has this fibrous nature
[718 - 722] to it so that it stays in one complete shape.
[722 - 725] In looking up recipes, I noticed a lot of variations,
[725 - 727] including more ingredients in the omelet.
[727 - 730] In particular, I noticed the addition of a giniling,
[730 - 734] this sort of sauteed pork dish into the tortang talong.
[734 - 736] So I wanted to try that as well.
[736 - 739] And for this recipe I referenced the YouTube channel Simpol.
[739 - 740] So I begin by making the giniling,
[740 - 743] which is essentially sauteing onion, garlic,
[743 - 746] red bell pepper, tomato, minced pork,
[746 - 749] and seasoning with soy sauce and some oyster sauce.
[749 - 752] I also seasoned the egg with a little bit of fish sauce
[752 - 755] which is something I saw the chef Alvin Cailan doing.
[755 - 757] So then I took my other eggplant, flattened it,
[757 - 759] dipped it into the egg,
[759 - 761] and then carefully layered some of that giniling on top,
[761 - 765] and then also some chopped green onion and green chili
[765 - 767] as well as the remaining egg.
[767 - 767] And at this point
[767 - 769] I really wish I had been using a frying pan
[769 - 772] with lower walls, but it came out okay
[772 - 774] even though my flip was a little bit unruly.
[774 - 777] And this was so delicious.
[777 - 780] The charred eggplant flavor really works
[780 - 782] with all the other savory elements,
[782 - 784] the pork, the fish sauce.
[784 - 786] I also love that the stem of the eggplant
[786 - 787] just sits at the top.
[787 - 791] I don't know. It reminds me of, like, a vegetarian squid.
[791 - 793] I'm very thankful this dish was suggested to me
[793 - 796] because I had so much fun making it.
[796 - 799] Well, that's how I cooked 20 pounds of eggplant.
[799 - 800] I hope you enjoyed watching.
[800 - 801] Again, if you're one of the people
[801 - 803] who suggested a recipe to me, thank you so much.
[803 - 806] If you have suggestions on other ingredients I should make
[806 - 807] in the future, I'd love to hear it.
[807 - 809] But otherwise, thanks for watching.
[809 - 812] (gentle upbeat music)