Crispy Eggplant with Fish Fragrant Sauce

Name: Crispy Eggplant with Fish Fragrant Sauce
Yield: Serves 4–6 as part of a banquet
Cuisine: China
Ingredients: 1 small handful of baby coriander leaves and sesame seeds, to garnish; 15 g (½ oz) xanthan gum; 2 tablespoons Lao Gan Ma chilli oil (with peanuts); ½ teaspoon chilli flakes; 50 g (1¾ oz/⅓ cup) sesame seeds; 2 small long red chillies, thinly sliced into rounds; 2 spring onions (scallions), finely chopped; 3 tablespoons fried shallots (Essentials); sprigs from ½ bunch coriander (cilantro), finely chopped; 450 g (1 lb) caster (superfine) sugar; 100 g (3½ oz) liquid glucose; 2½ tablespoons Chinkiang black vinegar; 2 tablespoons chilli bean paste; 100 ml (3½ fl oz) Chinese red vinegar; 100 ml (3½ fl oz) light soy sauce; 70 g (2½ oz) soy paste; 6 Japanese eggplants (long thin aubergine), peeled, cut into batons about 5 × 1.5 cm (2 × 5/8 inch); vegetable oil, for deep-frying; 3 bird’s eye chillies, very finely chopped; 60 g (2¼ oz) tapioca flour; 2 tablespoons finely chopped garlic; 60 g (2¼ oz) rice flour; 1 teaspoon salt; 2 teaspoons ground Sichuan pepper; 1 tablespoon very finely chopped ginger

Preparation info

Serves
4–6
as part of a banquet

Difficulty
Medium

Appears in

Mr Hong

By Dan Hong

Published 2014

About

This dish was created by one of my old sous chefs, Victor Liong, after he ate at Dainty Sichuan, Melbourne. Fish fragrant sauce doesn’t actually have any fish in it, but the sweet, sour and spicy elements in the sauce are traditionally used to cook Sichuan fish dishes, and it gives this dish its name.

Ingredients

Fish Fragrant Sauce

450 g (1 lb) caster (superfine) sugar
100 g (

Asia
China
Starter
Main course
Pescatarian
Spicy

Method

Fish Fragrant Sauce

Put the sugar and liquid glucose in a large saucepan and add 250 ml (9 fl oz/1 cup) water. Whisk over a medium heat to dissolve the sugar, t