Asian salad with crispy eggplants, cilantro and peanuts
4 servings
30 minutes
Summer, tender, almost seedless and absolutely not bitter eggplants can become a delightful story if you fry them in pieces until crispy. The story is also mixed with starch breading , starch is more delicate than flour and from it the eggplants develop a thin, almost glassy crust, which keeps the juice inside and does not allow the pulp to soak in oil and become heavy. Then the story of fried eggplants can be developed in any direction of the world: if you serve them with tahini - then in Israeli, with baked tomatoes - in Turkish, and if with mint, cilantro, soy sauce and mirin, then in Asian. We chose the latter option and enhanced the crunch, complementing the crispy eggplants with crushed peanuts.
1
Cut the eggplants into large cubes.
- Eggplant: 200 g
2
Coat the eggplants in a mixture of salt and corn starch, shaking off the excess.
- Cornstarch: 30 g
3
Heat sunflower oil for frying, fry the eggplants until golden brown, then transfer them with a slotted spoon to paper towels to drain excess oil.
- Deep-frying oil: 300 ml
4
Slice the cucumbers.
- Cucumbers: 100 g
5
For the sauce, pour sesame oil, soy sauce, vegetable oil, and mirin into a jar with a tight lid.
- Sesame oil: 1 tablespoon
- Soy sauce: 2 tablespoons
- Vegetable oil: 1 tablespoon
- Mirin: 1 tablespoon
6
Squeeze lime juice into it and add the garlic pressed through a press. Close the jar and shake well to mix the ingredients.
- Lime: 0.5 piece
- Garlic: 1 clove
7
Put the eggplants and cucumbers in a salad bowl.
- Eggplant: 200 g
- Cucumbers: 100 g
8
Tear the leaves of basil, cilantro, and mint roughly, mix them, and add to the salad.
- Green basil: 20 g
- Fresh mint: 20 g
- Cilantro: 20 g
9
Slightly crush the peanuts in a mortar into coarse crumbs and sprinkle over the salad.
- Roasted peanuts: 20 g
10
Dress the salad with sauce.
- Sesame oil: 1 tablespoon
- Soy sauce: 2 tablespoons
- Vegetable oil: 1 tablespoon
- Mirin: 1 tablespoon
11
Place the salad on a serving plate and sprinkle with peanuts.
- Roasted peanuts: 20 g
