How to Make an Eggplant Salad

Jean Tang: We’re in for a real treat today. I’m sitting in a restaurant called Sip Sak and we’re about to meet the owner Orhan Yegen. Now I’ve known Organ for years he cooks some of my favorite food in New York, its Turkish food. Today, we’re making eggplant. Let’s go back in the kitchen and check it out. So this is chef owner Orhan Yegen and today, he is going to show us how to make roasted eggplant salad. Orhan Yegen: That’s right. You’re very lucky this week, we have the good eggplant. They are shiny and they look so beautiful. I’m going to put them on a stove and for each stove— Jean Tang: Wow just like that, directly on top of the burner. Orhan Yegen: That I will call flame, it’s going to burn the skin and that’s going to give the smoke taste. Jean Tang: I love that. Orhan Yegen: It’s very hard to cook the end. If the end cooks, that means that eggplant is cook. Now what happens is I have one that’s already cooked. So I’m not going to kill that more than it is. And I’m going to put this hear. Okay, so we have four eggplants, I have mine four and I’m going to go through from the top part of it and I take my knife and I’m going to peel the skin and I’m going to cut that and I’m going to push the stem. And now, I’m going to cut this nicely. Jean Tang: Into a strainer because I like to— Orhan Yegen: Any kind of strainer. And what I’m going to do, I’m going to take a whisk and I’m going to press this down. As you see, I think we have the eggplant that we needed here. I’m going to place this in a bowl. I want this actually—and then it will be easier to put all the ingredients in but at the meantime, I have to put a lemon juice, otherwise it will get dark. Jean Tang: The lemon is flavor but also so it doesn’t turn dark. Orhan Yegen: Yeah. From that, the amount and the size of the garlic changes. So this one, I will make sure that the people, they’re going to taste the garlic but they’re not going to chew one. I’m going to mash this with my knife, the back of the knife. So I’m going to hold this and I’m going to go— Jean Tang: Wow! Orhan Yegen: You see, the juice is right away there. Jean Tang: Incredible. Orhan Yegen: And it’s a technique to use garlic. This is a 100% olive oil, it’s not—the reason is, I have to make the eggplant absorb the olive oil. I’m going to whisk like I make in a mayonnaise and you’re going to see that this eggplant is going to absorb it all and if it absorb it easily, I’m going to add more but it depends on the eggplant. Jean Tang: So people should use less and then add more. Orhan Yegen: But if you put too much then you’re going to see that it’s not going to take it and you’re going to see that the olive oil is going to float. And now we’re going to—salt is the most important thing. If you don’t put enough salt—if you put a lot of salt, it will be salty. So you have to feel when you put it in and I’m going to put some and if it’s not enough, I’m going to add it up and so I’m going to mix that and at the meantime, I’m going to add a lemon juice a little bit more. I need a lemon. Jean Tang: You need more lemon. It’s a perfect balance and you’re right. It doesn’t really taste you know eggplant feel in your mouth.