Grilled Applewood Smoked Chinese Eggplant Loins With Beet Blood

July 7, 2016
Wicked
Recipes

Updated: October 17, 2022

45 minutes
4-6
0.0

Ever wonder what to do with those long purple eggplants you see at the store or farmers market? First we tried juggling but that didn’t work so we put them to the heat of the moment and under the knife and here’s what we came up with.

Chinese eggplant grilled and infused with hot smoke to coax out and develop a delicate texture. Yes please! Next, we add soft silky creamy Kite Hill yogurt and a deep earthy red toned caramel to paint the crime scene.

Ingredients

4 purple eggplants or Chinese eggplant loins (approximately 8 -12” long each)
1/4 cup hazelnuts, karate chopped (means rough chop – ninja talk)
2 Tbsp Kite Hill Plain yogurt or other non-dairy yogurt
2 Tbsp Salted Beet Blood (see notes below in options)
1 tsp sesame oil
1/2 tsp coarse salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
1/2 tsp Chinese Five-Spice Powder
a sprig of mint, basil and cilantro, to garnish
small handful of apple wood smoked chips for the grill

Instructions

Fire up your charcoal grill to hot and glowing embers.
Rub sesame oil between your hands like a massage therapist, rub those eggplants all over, to coat. Season with the salt, pepper and five spice and let sit about 5 – 10 minutes.
Place eggplant loins on the grill and grill for 5 minutes on one side then turn eggplants and toss a few applewood chips onto the flame to heat and add smoke, cover the cover and cook for 5 minutes on each side depending on the heat of the grill. I find these cook up pretty quick with 10-15 minutes depending on the heat of the grill. You can tell when they are done by a slight dimpling and color change and the loins will become soft and easy to pierce through with a skewer.
Remove from the heat and let sit for a minute before carving.
Slice into 1-inch thick slices on an angle. Place on platter to begin your art project. First drizzle with a little yogurt, then the salted beet blood … now you’re an artist!
Top with chopped ninja nuts and garnish with fresh herbs.

Notes

For a quick and easy salted beet blood, try mixing 1/4 cup of warm coconut nectar with a few tablespoons of beet juice and a pinch of salt. You could also just mix brown rice syrup with a little Wicked Sriracha Sauce.

Or if you have the time, here’s the original Beet Blood recipe: Whisk together 1 cup (240 ml) beet juice, 3/4 cup (150 g) sugar, and 1/2 tsp sea salt in a small saucepot. Bring to a slow simmer over medium heat, stirring occasionally with a wooden spoon. Let simmer and reduce in volume by about half, 20 to 30 minutes. At that point, it’ll be like a thin syrup. Don’t taste it–it’s as hot as molten lava! Remove from the heat let it cool in the pan until warm but pourable, 5 to 10 minutes. Then use it or pour it into a glass jar and screw on the lid. Refrigerate up to 1 month. It’s thicker when cold and thinner when warm. Makes about 3/4 cup.