Cold Eggplant with Sesame Sauce

Flavor: Sesame Sauce — Meal: Easy, Cold

“Eggplant was a common vegetable in Szechwan. Every spring our front courtyard would be turned into a nursery where my parents grew eggplant seedlings in bamboo trays to sell to our neighbors. We loved eggplant, and ate it nearly every day when it was in season. My mother knew dozens of different ways to prepare it, each one more exciting than the last.”

Eggplant naturally lends itself to a variety of treatments; its soft flesh soaks u