Whatever it was, I hope I wasn't looking forward to a seafood dish! Coz, despite the name, there ain't no fish in this dish. But there is pork. Quite a lot of pork actually. Which is quite funny coz I've seen this dish listed in the vegetarian section of at least one Chinese menu.
Anyhoo, apparently the name is the literal translation of yuxiang qiezi which refers to the preparation of the dish - one that is usually associated with fish in Sichuan Chinese cuisine.
But, putting the rather misleading name to one side, I have to say that this is probably one of my most favourite dishes... ever! It's hot. It's salty. It's sour. It's unami on a plate and I bloody love it.
Which is why I'm especially pleased that Gav likes to cook it. He uses this Ching-He Huang recipe which is relatively easy to follow and free of any stupidly difficult to find ingredients (even Tesco has chilli bean sauce now). You should give it a go too.
Looks lovely and I plan to make it. The Chinese are very enterprising with aubergines. Had an excellent aubergine dish at China Red a year or two ago, just off The Moor. All the customers were Chinese except us!
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