Salted Duck Egg Shrimps 鹹蛋蝦仁

When you see salted egg out there, most likely it's salted "duck" egg. The reason is that duck egg has more fat compared to chicken egg, also less water. In addition, the duck egg shells are tougher with bigger yolk size. All that making duck egg a more ideal candidate to go through the brining process.

Salted duck egg shrimps 鹹蛋蝦仁 -

Ingredients?

• 20 to 24 shrimps
• 2 salted duck egg
• 2 garlic cloves
• 1 stalk scallion
• 1 small chunk ginger
• 1 to 2 red chilies (optional)
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 teaspoon white sesame oil
• 1 tablespoon Chinese rice cooking wine
• 2 tablespoons sweet potato starch

How?

Peel and devein the shrimps. Use 1 tablespoon of Chinese rice cooking wine to gently massage and marinate the shrimps. A short marinate time should be enough, just do this step first then move on to prepare other ingredients.

Peel the salted eggs, separate the yolk and the white then chop to smaller pieces.

Destem and chop the scallion, separate the green and the white parts. Peel and chop the garlic cloves. Destem and chop the red chilies if using. Scrape then finely chop the ginger.

When it's time for the actual cooking part, use about 2 tablespoons of sweet potato starch to mix in and coat the shrimps. Only do this step last minute. 

Quickly get a pan ready and drizzle 3 tablespoons of olive oil. Switch to medium heat. Once warmed up, add in the shrimps and sear till colored and about 70% cooked-through. After that, scoop out and set aside for later use.

Still using the same pan, drizzle more oil if needed. Use medium low heat this time. Add in chopped yolk and sear till the consistency becomes more paste-like and a bit bubbling.

Add in all the chopped scallion white and most of the chopped greens along with garlic, red chilies, and about 1/2 teaspoon of chopped ginger. Sear till aromatic. You can adjust to medium heat here.

Add back the shrimps and give it a quick stir-fry for about 30 seconds. Add in the egg white and cook for another 30 seconds. Taste and see if additional salt is needed. I didn't add any this time.

Once the seasoning has been checked, drizzle a round of white sesame oil, about 1 teaspoon. Add in all the remaining scallion greens and toss till evenly mixed in. Plate and serve.

Note that I didn't use any extra salt in this recipe. The reason is that "salted" duck egg can be quite salty already. So in general, by using the salted duck egg alone should be enough. However, if you prefer heavier flavor, just add a tiny pinch of salt should do. Just a tiny pinch.  

Other recipes using salted duck egg:

• Steamed pork patty with salted duck egg
• Salted duck egg and salmon fried rice 鹹鴨蛋鮭魚芥蘭炒飯

Eggplant Cold Dish in Flavorful Chinese Seasonings 中式涼拌茄子

When you Google eggplant cold dish or any sort of eggplant salad, usually you'll find a lighter version of Japanese recipe. No doubt, the Japanese version of eggplant cold dish recipes are quite popular online. But this time around we are talking about the Asian aromatics-filled eggplant recipe instead, with spicy chilies and kicking garlics.

Eggplant cold dish in flavorful Chinese seasonings 中式涼拌茄子 - 

Ingredients?

• 2 long or 1 big round eggplant
• 1 small bundle cilantro
• 4 garlic cloves
• 2 to 4 red chilies
• 1 teaspoon red chili powder
• 1 tablespoon toasted white sesame seeds
• 1/2 cup olive oil
• 2 1/2 tablespoons soy sauce
• 2 1/2 tablespoons black vinegar
• 1 tablespoon granulated sugar
• 1 teaspoon black sesame oil

How?

There is no need to peel the eggplant, simply steam till softened but not soggy, about 15 to 20 minutes. Once done, remove from heat and wait till cool enough to handle by hand. Squeeze out the liquid first. You'll be surprised how much water these eggplants will hold. After that, tear the eggplant into strips and set aside for later use.

Prepare a big serving bowl that can withhold the heat from sizzling oil. To there, add in destemed and chopped red chilies, 4 peeled and chopped garlic cloves, 1 teaspoon of red chili powder, and 1 tablespoon of toasted white sesame seeds.

Have a small pot ready and pour in 1/2 cup of olive oil. Bring up the heat and make sure the oil gets hot, pour that right on top of the aromatics prepped earlier in the bowl.

I actually put the bowl inside the sink before pouring in the hot oil. If the oil splashes out, at least it'll hit the sink wall and that means easy cleaning job for me afterwards.

So once the hot oil touches these aromatics, it should start sizzling, which will help releasing the aroma and flavors. Let's add some seasonings too, 2 1/2 tablespoons of soy sauce, 2 1/2 tablespoons of black vinegar, 1 tablespoon of sugar, and 1 teaspoon of black sesame oil.

Give it a good mix then transfer the eggplant strips over. Mix till evenly blended too.

Lastly, chop some cilantro and mix together with the eggplant. Adding the cilantro last will help preserving its refreshing aroma, also a bit vibrant green color pop.

With all the ingredients listed here will give you a very flavorful result. However, there is one extra ingredient that you can add to the bunch, to further enhance the somewhat already heavy seasonings. That is, the century egg.

Basically it's Chinese preserved duck egg, the black colored kind. So if you don't mind such distinct ingredient, simply peel-off one preserved egg and smash into the whole eggplant bunch. It'll help binding all the seasonings, giving you a smoother touch yet with added depth of savory note. 

Other eggplant recipes:

• Seared eggplant with dried shrimp and garlic 醬燒蝦米茄子排
• Cubed eggplant and ground pork stir-fry with spicy fermented bean paste 炒辣豆瓣醬茄子豬肉丁