I’ve been experimenting with bottled sauces. My new favorite one is Asian Gourmet’s Szechuan Sauce, which is fabulous with meat, chicken, turkey or heavy fish like salmon.

I use szechuan instead of barbecue sauce, and this brand delighted me even more when I read the ingredients: soy sauce, water, wheat, soybean, sea salt, cane sugar, distilled vinegar, corn starch, fresh garlic, garlic powder, soybean oil, dehydrated onion, cherry peppers, salt, crushed red pepper, ginger.

But just when I was about to get you excited about using it on wild caught Alaskan salmon (which is delicious),  they have to go and spill all of that oil into the ocean. So much for my love for wild caught salmon. I hate to go back to eating farm-raised fish – it has too much bacteria – but who knows how far that sludge will travel?

My grandmother Muddie always made her fish cakes with canned salmon, but I try to avoid cans as much as possible. So, even though my family had a taste for salmon cakes tonight, we’re going to get away from seafood and try to stick with organic vegetables.

Szechuan sauce is heavy and can drown out traditional spring vegetables like peas or asparagus, especially if you use too much of it. It needs something meatier like eggplant. My favorite Chinese restaurant serves baby eggplant with a black bean sauce that is delicious. Here’s my version of their dish, using szechuan sauce for my base.

Hot and Spicy Eggplant with Black Bean Sauce (Serves 4)

Ingredients:

1 bag dried black beans

5 garlic cloves, finely chopped

5 scallions

½ tsp fresh grated ginger

1/4  tsp finely chopped red pepper

¼ cup sesame seeds

5 Chinese eggplants, washed and sliced the length in circles

½ cup Asian Szechuan dipping sauce

¼ cup virgin olive oil

Directions:

• Soak beans overnight, rinse and boil in six cups of spring water for 2 hours, until soft. Drain and set aside.
• Wash and slice scallions. Set aside.
• Set aside 3 tbsp. olive oil and mix the rest into a paste with ginger, pepper  and 1/3 of the chopped garlic.
• Sauté the rest of the garlic in 3 tbsp. of olive oil and add to beans. Simmer on low.
• Heat wok or cast iron pan on high flame.
• Brush each piece of eggplant with the oil paste.
• Heat  szechuan sauce in a small pot and simmer on low heat.
• Brown each piece of eggplant on each side and simmer until soft.
• Add hot szechuan sauce  just before serving.
• Serve over a bed of black beans with a side of brown rice.
• Garnish with sesame seeds and scallions.

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