Poached Eggplant Salad

When DK of CulinaryBazaar announced A.W.E.D-Vietnamese,I was at a loss.I had never ever tried Vietnamese.Eventhough she provided the required links,somehow things did not come together.Whole last week,I was searching and searching for an easy Vietnamese dish but no luck.Two days before, when I was searching for something else,up popped Vietnamese recipes.I was so excited and made one right away from here.It is an eggplant salad and is easy to make and tastes nicely.So here's it.

Ingredients:

Chinese/Japanese/purple Eggplant: 1 big

Dressing:
Sesame Oil: 1 tbsp
Garlic salt: 1/2 tsp or {garlic+salt}
Soy Sauce:1 tsp
Sugar:1/2 tsp
Pepper:1 tsp
White/Rice Vinegar:2 tsp. [I used white]
Salt:as needed

Garnish:
Coriander Leaves/Cilantro: few sprigs

Preparation:

Cut the stems of the eggplant.In a pan boil water,and add the eggplants into it.Reduce heat and simmer for 8-10 minutes.This process,called poaching,cooks the eggplants and slowly they change the colour and begin to wilt.Remove the eggplant from the pan and drain it.Once cooled ,cut the eggplant into cubes or bite-sized pieces.

In a bowl,mix together all the dressing ingredients except sesame oil.Add in sesame oil using a fork or whisk,so that all the items are well blended.You can use minced garlic and add salt as per taste.I had garlic salt and so used it.

Pour this seasoning over the eggplant and toss to blend.Garnish with cilantro/coriander.Serve with rice/breads as a side salad.

If you are a Chinese food fan,you will enjoy this sweet sour salad as well.I enjoyed it and this salad will be a regular in my table.

A Closer Look..

So this salad goes to DK's A.W.E.D-Vietnamese

And also to EasyCraft's WYF:Salad/Starter/Soup event

Srilekha of Me&My Kitchen has gifted me a Friendship Award.THANKS SRI,True Friendship strenghtens you in times of despair and also brings you down to earth when you begin to fly too high.The award is much appreciated.

I would like to gift this Friendship award to KitchenFlavours, EasyCrafts, Brindavan Recipes and Vegetable Platter. Hope you too enjoy the hot sweet cuppa of friendship!

Update on September 12,2008:This salad also goes to Fresh Produce of the Month:Eggplant hosted by Simona .