More cold dishes from The Food of Sichuan by Fuchsia Dunlop: “A Sichuan feast always begins with a teasing spread of cold dishes to arouse the senses and set the mood for the meal to come.” These three salads are all easy to make and delectable.
Spicy steamed eggplant (aubergine) salad. For this salad, cut 800g (1¾ lbs) of eggplants in half. Place them in a bowl in a steamer and steam for 20 minutes. Drain in a colander and allow to cool. When they are cool enough to handle, cut them into bite-sized pieces – the original recipe says to discard the skin and seeds and tear the flesh but I chose to leave them intact as I like the skin and the eggplants I buy are not bitter or seedy. Place in a serving dish. For the sauce combine 3 tablespoons of soy sauce, 2 teaspoons of Chinkiang vinegar, 1 teaspoon of caster sugar, 2 tablespoons of chilli oil, 1 teaspoon of sesame oil and a few pinches of roasted ground Sichuan peppercorns. Pour over the eggplant, stirring a little and garnish with some thinly sliced spring onion greens.
Spiced cucumber salad. Cut a large cucumber in half lengthways and scoop out the seedy part. Now cut the cucumber into 5cm (2″) lengths and into strips. Place them in a bowl and sprinkle with ½ a teaspoon of salt and set aside for at least 30 minutes. Drain the cucumbers and shake them dry. Now snip 8-10 long dried chillies into shorter lengths, shaking out the seeds as much as possible. Heat a wok over high heat, add 2 tablespoons of oil and add the chillies and 1 teaspoon of whole Sichuan peppercorns. Stir-fry until the chillies become darker but not burnt. Add the cucumbers briefly, just to heat the surface and combine the flavours. Remove from the heat, add 1 teaspoon of sesame oil and turn out into a serving dish.
Sour and hot wood-ear salad. Wood-ear fungus, (AKA cloud ear fungus, black fungus, black Chinese fungus (or mushroom), wood fungus, ear fungus, or tree ear fungus) is a type of fungus which grows on trees and is ear-shaped, hence it’s name. It’s texture is both smooth and crunchy, and it provides great textural contrast in many Chinese dishes. To make this salad, soak 20g (¾ oz) of wood-ear fungus either in boiling water for at least 30 minutes or in cold water for several hours or overnight. Tear them into bite-size pieces discarding any hard bits. Bring a small saucepan of water to boil and blanch the pieces of wood-ear for 10 – 20 seconds then refresh under cold water. Drain them well and place them in a serving bowl. In a small bowl combine 2 tablespoons of thinly sliced fresh red chillies, ¼ of a teaspoon of salt and 3 tablespoons of white rice vinegar. Stir well and add to the fungus along with 2 teaspoons of minced garlic, a handful of chopped fresh coriander (cilantro) leaves and 1½ teaspoons of sesame oil. Season with more salt if necessary and toss well before serving.
michelle picker cooks 