Food52 Recipe for microwaved eggplant

[Jenise]

It has never dawned on me to microwave eggplant, so I am so going to do this:

1/4 cup tamari or soy sauce
2 tablespoons loosely packed cilantro leaves
1 tablespoon rice wine vinegar
1 tablespoon toasted sesame oil
1 1/2 medium-size cloves garlic
1 coin of fresh peeled ginger (a 1-by- 1/4-inch piece), cut crosswise into 1/4-inch slices
4 small Chinese eggplants (2 to 3 ounces each)

Combine all ingredients, except eggplants, in a blender. Process until smooth. Prick the eggplants several times with a fork and pull off the leaves. Cut in half lengthwise. On the open side of each half, make three deep diagonal slashes in each direction. Place eggplants skin side down in a 13-by-9-by-2-inch microwave-safe oval dish. Spoon 1 1/2 teaspoons of the marinade over each eggplant half. Rub the marinade into the flesh so that it runs into the cuts. Turn eggplants skin side up. Pour remaining marinade into dish. Let stand for 45 minutes. Turn eggplants skin side down. Cover tightly with lid or microwave plastic wrap. Cook at 100 percent power in a high-power oven for 10 minutes. Prick plastic to release steam. Remove from microwave and uncover. Serve warm or at room temperature.

[Jenise]

Okay, so it took me longer than expected to get around to trying this recipe but I did so the other day to make a side dish for Sunday's smoked duck.

Verdict: doesn't work as advertised, but it's two out of three steps toward a GREAT dish.

So I made the marinade and poured it over more eggplant than the recipe intends with lots of small pricks vs the mere three slashes it prescribes. Two were especially long so I cut them all so that I had a pan full of approximately 4" lengths. I turned them often and deliberately turned them cut side down, not up as specified, because this position allowed more infusion and why wouldn't I want that.

Then ten minute cook wasn't quite enough due to the quantity, I added two more minutes. But what I had then was a bunch of beige eggplant that looked more oxidized than cooked. It did not come out looking roasted as the recipe insisted it would. So I heated up a teflon skillet and, in just a small amount of olive oil, seared them off to a beautiful color in about two minutes each pan-load (I had enough for two), and lined them up on a rectangular plate. To finish, I scooped over a wonderful jarred Chinese Chile sauce that is basically the hard bits left behind when chile oil is made--chiles, black beans, garlic and in this case some peanuts. I love this stuff! And the dish was divine--the eggplant was beautifully moist from the infused marinade and delightfully spicy and colorful from the topping.

So the recipe didn't deliver a complete dish, but a little extra effort produced something wonderful. In fact, it's a great do-ahead dish. Marinate and MW-cook in step 1 earlier in the day, and then just sear off to finish at dinner.