Spicy Eggplant, Tabbouleh, Fried Ice Cream

DEAR SOS: We cannot get enough of the food at Yang Chow in Chinatown. We dream about the eggplant in hot garlic sauce. Can you get the recipe?

--NANCY AND NICOLE

DEAR NANCY AND NICOLE: You can relax. Manager Kim Tak Yun of Yang Chow restaurant gladly supplied the recipe.

YANG CHOW EGGPLANT IN HOT SPICY GARLIC SAUCE

Vegetable oil

1 pound Japanese eggplant, peeled and cut into 3x1-inch pieces

1/4 teaspoon minced ginger root

1/4 teaspoon minced garlic

1/3 pound ground pork or chicken

1/2 cup shredded bamboo shoots

2 tablespoons cooking wine

1/3 cup chicken broth

2 tablespoons soy sauce

2 teaspoons sugar

1 teaspoon vinegar

Chile oil

1 1/2 teaspoons cornstarch

3 teaspoons water

1 teaspoon minced green onions

5 drops sesame oil

Heat about 1/2 cup vegetable oil in skillet. Add eggplant pieces. Fry 2 to 3 minutes until golden. Remove from pan and drain on paper towels.

Combine 1 teaspoon vegetable oil, ginger and garlic in wok. Heat until hot. Add pork, bamboo shoots, cooking wine, broth, soy sauce, sugar, vinegar and chile oil to taste. Cook and stir until sauce begins to boil.

Add eggplant and toss to coat well. Bring to boil and cook 30 seconds longer. Mix cornstarch with water to make paste. Stir into sauce mixture and cook 30 seconds. Turn heat off. Add green onions and sesame oil. Makes 2 main course, or 3 to 4 appetizer servings.

Each main-course serving contains about:

399 calories; 1,183 mg sodium; 41 mg cholesterol; 28 grams fat; 24 grams carbohydrates; 15 grams protein; 2.54 grams fiber.

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DEAR SOS: Your readers would be pleased to see fried ice cream as served at Mexican restaurants, such as Acapulco Restaurant. It is really scrumptious but I can’t figure out the ingredients of the delicious sauce.

--MARY

DEAR MARY: How about this recipe from our files?

FRIED ICE CREAM WITH APRICOT- BRANDY SAUCE

1 pint vanilla or other flavor ice cream

1/2 cup crushed corn flake or cookie crumbs

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

2 teaspoons sugar

1 egg

Oil for deep frying

Fried Tortilla Basket, optional

Apricot-Brandy Sauce or honey

Whipped Cream

Scoop out 4 to 5 balls of ice cream. Return to freezer. In bowl mix corn flake crumbs, cinnamon and sugar. Roll frozen ice cream balls in crumb mixture and freeze again. In bowl beat egg. Then dip coated balls in egg, then roll again in remaining crumbs. Freeze until ready to use. (For thicker coating, repeat dipping egg and rolling in crumbs.)

When ready to serve, heat oil to 350 degrees. Place frozen ice cream ball in fryer basket or on perforated spoon and lower into hot oil 1 minute. Immediately remove and place in dessert compote or Fried Tortilla Basket. Drizzle with Apricot-Brandy Sauce and top with whipped cream. Continue to fry balls 1 at time. Balls will be crunchy outside and just beginning to melt inside. Makes 4 to 5 servings.

Each of 4 servings, without Tortilla Basket, contains about:

407 calories; 136 mg sodium; 83 mg cholesterol; 10 grams fat; 70 grams carbohydrates; 7 grams protein; 1.91 grams fiber.

Tortilla Baskets

4 to 5 flour tortillas

Oil for deep frying

Fit tortilla in wire basket to form bowl. Place another basket into tortilla cavity to hold in place while frying. In pan heat oil to 350 degrees and lower tortilla in wire baskets into oil and cook few seconds until golden brown and crisp.

Let stand few seconds to keep shape. Remove wire baskets and drain tortilla basket on paper towels until cool.

Apricot-Brandy Sauce

1 1/2 cups apricot or other fruit jam

1 tablespoon lemon juice

3 tablespoons brandy or rum

Place jam and lemon juice in saucepan. Cook over low heat until jam is melted. Strain. Add brandy. Serve at once. Any remaining sauce can be refrigerated in tightly covered jar. Use within few days. Makes about 1 1/2 cups.

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DEAR SOS: I’ve lost my recipe for tabbouleh salad you published a few years ago. The premise was that most tabbouleh recipes were heavier with wheat than parsley. Your recipe called for a higher proportion of parsley and it was perfect. Please search your files for this recipe.

--REGINA

DEAR REGINA: Every cook has his or her own preference for the proportion of wheat to parsley in this ancient Middle Eastern salad that is ideal for a summer table. Here is a tabbouleh we published with a higher proportion of greens to wheat. We like it, too.

TABBOULEH

1/2 cup fine bulgur wheat

1 bunch parsley, finely chopped

4 cups 1/4-inch-thick green onion slices

1 1/2 cups peeled, seeded and coarsely chopped tomatoes

6 fresh mint leaves

4 fresh basil leaves

2 cloves garlic, minced

1/2 cup olive oil

1/2 cup lemon juice

Salt, pepper

Belgian endive leaves

Tomato wedges

Lemon wedges

In bowl soak bulgur in cold water to cover 10 minutes. Drain and squeeze as dry as possible in clean tea towel or by pressing with back of spoon through sieve.

Place drained wheat in bowl and add parsley, green onions, chopped tomatoes, mint, basil, garlic, olive oil and lemon juice. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Refrigerate at least 2 hours.

Serve garnished with endive leaves and tomato and lemon wedges. Makes 8 servings.

Each serving contains about:

169 calories; 208 mg sodium; trace cholesterol; 13 grams fat; 11 grams carbohydrates; 4 grams protein; 0.91 gram fiber.