Chinese Noodle Salad with Roasted Eggplant

This weekend I fixed one of my favorite recipes from The Green's Cookbook by Deborah Madison, Chinese Noodle Salad with Roasted Eggplant.  In the cookbook, it states that this recipe is one of the most popular dishes that the restaurant serves. That's quite an honor considering the fact that Greens has so many excellent dishes on their menu.  The salad can be make ahead in segments, at your leisure. In fact, the noodles taste better if they're cooked as much as a day before you complete the salad.  Then you can add the vegetables just before you serve it.

This recipe makes a substantial amount of salad, a meal in itself.  We were only able to eat half of it, which meant there was plenty for lunch the next day.  The vegetables were still crunchy even after that, because they were sitting on top of the noodles, without any of the dressing on them.  The salad gets more pungent after a day sitting in the fridge, and is even better tasting.  You'll smell quite pungent yourself after eating it.

You can serve the salad on individual plates. But the easiest thing to do is to layer it in a large bowl and let everyone help themselves and mix the salad on their plate.  Here are the noodles with the bean sprouts on top.

Then the shredded snow peas.

And finally, the carrots, cilanto and chopped nuts or sesame seeds. I used cashews instead of sesame seeds this time. You can use other vegetables in the salad, such as asparagus or thinly shredded radishes.

This dish is always a big hit when I serve it.  So, I don't doubt that they sell quite a few plates of it at Greens restaurant.


Chinese Noodle Salad with Roasted Eggplant (The Green's Cookbook by Deborah Madison)

The Noodles and The Marinade:

7 Tbs toasted sesame oil
7 Tbs soy sauce
3 Tbs balsamic vinegar
3-4 Tbs sugar
2-½ tsp salt
8-10 scallions, the white part and some of the firm green part, thinly sliced into rounds
3 Tbs cilantro, chopped
1 14 oz package of fresh Chinese egg noodles, the thinnest possible

Begin by making the marinade. Combine all the, ingredients (except the noodles) in a bowl, and stir them together until the sugar has dissolved.

Bring a large pot of water to a boil.  While it's boiling fluff the noodles to separate and then add them to the boiling unsalted water. Cook them briefly for a few minutes until done, but not overly soft.  Immediately pour them into a colander, rinse them with cold water to cool then shake the colander vigorously to remove excess water. Place the noodles to a large bowl, stir the marinade  and pour half of it over the cooked noodles, tossing them with your hands to distribute the dressing evenly. Set the remaining marinade aside. If the noodles won't’t to be used for a while, cover the bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate.  The flavors will actually develop better if they rest in the fridge.

For the eggplant and vegetable garnishes:

1 lb firm, shiny Japanese or Chinese eggplants
1 Tbs fresh ginger root, peeled and minced
1 clove garlic, minced
Reserved marinade
1 cup snow peas, strings removed
½ lb mung bean sprouts
3 Tbs sesame seeds, or roasted cashews or peanuts toasted in a skillet until lightly colored
1 medium carrot, peeled and julienned
Cilantro leaves, for garnish

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.

Pierce the eggplants in several places, and bake them until they are soft and their skins have shriveled, about 20, depending on their size turning after 10 minutes. When the eggplants are done, slice them in half lengthwise and when they are cool enough to handle, peel the skin away from the flesh and shred the flesh into 1/4 inch strips. Add the ginger and garlic to the reserved dressing, and then add the eggplant strips. mix the mixture well to thoroughly coat the eggplant and set it aside.

Bring a medium pot of water, salted with a teaspoon of salt, to a boil. Blanch the snow peas until they are bright green, about 20 seconds. Remove them with a strainer, and rinse with cool water. Cut them into long, thin strips, and set them aside. Next, put the sprouts into the boiling water, and cook for about 20 seconds. Pour them into a colander, rinse them with cold water, and lay them on a layer of paper towels to dry. If using sesame seeds, toast in a skillet for about 15 seconds.

If the noodles have been refrigerated, allow them to come to room temperature; then toss them with the eggplant and reserved marinade, as well as half of the sesame seeds or other nuts. Mound them on a platter, and distribute the carrots, mung bean sprouts, and snow peas over them. Garnish with the remaining sesame seeds/nuts and some cilantro. Once served, guests can toss the noodles and vegetables together to thoroughly mingle the textures and flavors.

Serves four to six

Comments

[albert]

Wow, even Cilantro on top to finish it off!

Yummy.

[Rosie]

Ok - this is going on the menu for next week - looks soooooooooooooooooooooo good. Thanks for sharing!

[steven]

Looks delicious Sher. I love Greens and try to eat there whenever possible. It is really hard to say which is my favorite restaurant in the Bay Area, but the three who have had my repeat business for decades are Greens, Chez Panisse and Zuni Cafe.

[kristi]

Your food photography is so fantastic. I need some lessons!

[sher]

Albert,

Thanks--I eat A LOT of cilantro, no dobut about that. And I didn't like it the first time I ate it (years ago).

Rosei,

Oh, I hope you like it as much as we do. You know how it is, you imagine people fixing it and saying, "She thought this was good?"

Steven,

Those are all favorites of mine too. I also like Hunans. I almost bought the Zuni Cookbook this week, but got Mustard's Grill instead--a favorite restaurant of mine in Napa. But, I will get that Zuni cookbook.

Kristi,

Thank you so much, but I need lessons myself. I want an SLR digital camera someday. Now, I just get as close as possible and fire off as many shots as possible! If you take 50 pictures, one of them has to be OK. That's my thinking, at least.

[steven]

Oh Hunans is good. Have you tried Yuet Lee, (Broadway & Grant?) they have the most awesome clams in black bean sauce. Another good one in the neighborhood is House of Nanjing. Oh and by all means, get the Zuni Cafe Cookbook if only for Judy's awesome Caesar Salad recipe.

[albert]

Think u should go pro.

[sher]

Steven,

Keep those suggestions coming!!! I'm afraid I always go to Hunans--must have those fiery dishes. Have you ever seen this site? The guy ate every dish at Hunan's and rated it.

http://greasepig.com/henrys/menu_6.html

Albert,

I almost went to culinary school, but decided to go to law school instead--a horrible mistake!