Lucas Sin's MAGIC Ratio For Chinese Salads
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- Опубліковано 22 тра 2024
- CHILLED EGGPLANT SALAD:
In this episode of Why It Works, Lucas Sin is in the test kitchen to teach you all about Chinese salads, today's example recipe being his Chilled Eggplant Salad.
"The following dish is a demonstration of a magic ratio I’ve found for Chinese salad dressings. Driven by the quest to devise a Chinese counterpart to the classic Western 3:1 oil-to-vinegar ratio found in salad dressings, I tested and poured through as many Chinese cold dishes as I could. After thorough exploration, I arrived at the ratio of 3:3:1:1: corresponding to soy sauce, aromatic oil, vinegar, and sugar. Of course, this is by no means a universally accepted axiom in all Chinese cookery, but it offers a useful blueprint for creating dressings that are harmonious and versatile. It's also a perfect base for culinary creativity, such as the introduction of chili oil into the vinaigrette in this recipe.
Chilled eggplants are one of my favorite chilled dishes, liangcai 涼菜, as they present a delightful sweetness and easy texture that marries beautifully with a diverse range of other dishes. As cold dishes go, this one is quite straightforward. A little zing from chili oil, minced garlic for depth, and scallion greens for a touch of green vibrancy.
When selecting eggplants for this salad, opt for the slender, elongated Chinese variety. Seek out those with a firm feel, a deep, rich purple exterior, and an immaculately white interior. Chinese eggplants generally contain fewer seeds compared to their globe counterparts, lending a sweeter taste. They also hold their shape better when cooked, offering a pleasingly stringy texture. To ensure the preservation of their purple hue, the eggplants are given a brief soak in white vinegar resulting in a more vibrant appearance." ~Lucas Sin
CHAPTERS:
00:00 - Introduction
01:21 - Process the Eggplant
02:43 - Seasoning Your Oil
04:06 - Fresh Aromatics
06:55 - Steaming the Eggplant
09:36 - Build Your Vinaigrette
12:46 - Plate & Serve!
13:22 - BONUS DISH!
GET THE RECIPE:
Chilled Eggplant Salad: f52.co/3QOVyn0
PRODUCTS FEATURED IN THIS VIDEO:
Luminarc Glass Prep Bowls: f52.co/47pBhvx
Casafina Pacifica Ceramic Dinnerware f52.co/49M1q9l
MORE ABOUT WHY IT WORKS:
In this technique-driven series, Food52 Resident Lucas Sin dives into the reasoning behind the culinary methods he uses in the kitchen. We'll learn why certain Chinese cooking techniques work and how they can be applied beyond their traditional recipes. If you're looking to level up in the kitchen, this skill-centered series is a great place to start!
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Honestly, I watch Lucas’ videos just to listen to him talk and nerd out about food. I get so lost in his talking that I have yet to try any of his recipes.
Yes, he is talented intellectual quite erudite and eloquent❤
Same
The calm sand confidence of his voice and delivery really draw you in
I'm currently checking if he has a cookbook, I'd buy instantly!
The intro music to this is HILARIOUS 10/10
"Step into a Ford F1-50 and chill out with some COLD. CHINESE. SALAD."
as someone who wants to know the reason why we do things, i love his contents so much, he explains things (theory and principle) extremely well, big respect!!!
I ADORE Lucas!!! He knows so much about his craft, and he brings up some tips and tricks I haven’t heard ANYONE else talk about!
Lucas is so good at explaining each step he does, it helps you learn the concept of cooking better. his knowledge and diction are incredible.
RESPECT- Lucas genuinely sharing his knowledge/experience is astonishingly refreshing.
This is a great hack. I love the idea of him explaining principles and arming us with the knowledge to improvise!
Lucas needs to make a cookbook. The way he explains the science and reasoning behind cooking is just makes sense, no fluff
Well, Lucas needs his own youtube channel like Kenji Alt-Lopez. Then Lucas could do whatever he wants and benefit directly with his own community and income.
other extra thing you can do to up the flavor: the Chinese herb Oil basting technique.
Basically you mince the fresh aromatics (garlic, ginger, green onion, chili) and pile them on top of the “Salad” in a single spot, and then you heat up your oil to the point that it’s smoking and splash it on top of your aromatics to give them a quick cook. it’ll give your salad a very fresh aromatic flavor and a smokey oil taste. not as convenient as premaking the vinaigrette, but it’s a lot tastier
I really love watching Lucas make fancy versions of my favourite comfort dishes that I can do when I'm feeling like zhuzhing things up. My basic method for this go-to cold dish is just steamed eggplant with an uncooked vinaigrette of mostly black vinegar (guess which province my family is from :P), minced garlic, and a bit of oil and salt. Lucas' explanations of why he does things are always really thorough and enlightening.
Fun fact, i find Chinese Eggplant easier to use for baba-ganoush because I find it’s thin enough that when i char the skin, it’ll cook all the way through and all of the flesh gets a consistent smokey flavor.
Western Eggplant is a bit to thick for this application and i often find it’s either raw in the middle after charring the skin or not smokey enough.
i see this guy everywhere and i love it
This looks wonderful!
Another wonderful Lucas video
Why does he use 4 spoons of vinegar when ratio is 3-3-1-1?
looks like an exception (mistake). the linked recipe does maintain the 3:3:1:1 ratio
I like this chef. Very informative!
Lucas Sin is the best of all. Thank you so much for the ratio, it's what I came here for.
I never thought about soaking the dry aromatics in water before adding to oil. This is super useful info! The ratio always made sense to me from just watching my mum cook and always using the same ratio regardless of what she was making.
Worth watching just for the ratio.
My favourite 🎉
3:3:1:1 - thank youuuu for this ratio
I see Lucas, i click the video
Din Tai Feng does a Eggplant dish like this. So good.
yeah, I kind of agree with the concept of the ratios. I tried this today. although to be honest I slightly was winging the ratios bc I forgot to write them down and then got lazy to replay the video. but I sort of remembered the idea of 3's and 1's and kind of remembered which items Sin used for each. I might have put too much chili crisp in (since there is much more crisp than oil in the bottle) and might have slightly under added the soy sauce (bc I bought it at a Japanese market and I'm not positive if it is the super heavy one for soup base). tried 2 TBSP olive oil (lacked ingredients for the aromatics infused oil) + 1 TBSP chili crisp (more crisp than oil so think I should have halved this and added a little more oil); 2 TBSP rice vinegar + 1 TBSP spicy yuzu dressing (with vinegar); 2 TBSP soy sauce + 1 tspn oyster sauce (probably should have added more oyster sauce); 2 tspn honey (maybe I could have added a little more)... it was not super exact but overall I was happy with the balance of savory, tang, and spiciness. I felt quite satiated eating just a bowl of rice and the briefly marinated eggplant as a whole meal.
Editors did Lucas dirty with the ratios
Great video and recipes! Technique ands ratios are on point.
i make this a lot.. its BIG HIT
Great video Lucas! Even though I've been making these kinds of salads for a long time, I always learn something new. My only addition here would be to suggest pre-salting the cucumbers. Not so much for flavor as to leach off some of the liquid so the dressing doesn't get watered down when it comes in contact with the cukes. I find the salad both tastes better, and lasts in the fridge much better if you do this, and then just put a bit less soy sauce in to compensate.
Yum!
Was the ratio for the vinaigrette just a suggestion? 😅 he did 3:3:4:2
Yes, that was confusing. He did not follow his own magic ratio.
This is a fantastic video! My one question however is after talking about the 3:3:1:1 ratio, it appears that you ad 3 parts of vinegar, despite saying that it should be 1?
I was wondering the same thing!
Looks delicious, but did i miss something? The dressing you made didn't follow the ratio you gave.
Exactly. 3-3-1-1. Precedes to put 3 tbs soy and 4 vinegar.
Yes, I am confused also.
I came here to say this. The recipe on the website appears to have the ratio 3:3:3:1?
That makes much more sense! Equal quantities sugar and vinegar wouldn't be very balanced @@feoragdubh
Pretty sure 3:3:1:1 is correct, if you look at the website, it follows that ratio (the extra 2 tbsp of white vinegar on the website was for the soaking stage). I suspect what happened was that half way through his explanation, lucas realised he had too little dressing so decided to bump up the volume using the same ratio (something like 9:9:3:3 tbsps) but the editor cut that out. Hence the confusion
Good job, Lucas! Food52 rocks! I just have a couple of questions: 1) does the choice of oil matter, 2) can I some other sweetener other than table sugar and 3) can I do anything with the aromatics once I have made the oil?
great video although i am confused with the ratios. you added 4 tbso of vinegar. i thought only one would be correct
Lucas!!!
@food52 how long does the oil keep for in the fridge?
can you throw those aromatics into a stock or broth afterwards?
I'm confused. Lucas said a great formula was 3-3-1-1 but he went 3-3-4-2 ??
Where's the rice?n This looks great.
please bring back lucas sin slurping food at end please and thank you
Lucas I’m wondering, in the video you added chilli oil to the final vinaigrette, could I also add toasted sesame oil? Bc I don’t tolerate spice that well since my gastric surgery.
I think that would be a delicious substitute, I make a Japanese miso eggplant that has sesame oil in it and it's so tasty!
sure, as he says in the video, it's all about the ratio and you can adjust the oils to your taste or needs! and sesame oil is very common in chinese cooking
dang man! finally we talking bout ratio! in western food and cooking and baking they never do that.
Not often, I agree, but not never. My mother's salad dressing was a ratio of oil, vinegar and sugar. And how about pound cake? I think chefs everywhere work with ratios and balance.
yeah maybe. but im very confused most of the time they dont do it in the cooking shows@@1hayes1
This guy is really good with chop sticks..
3:3:1:1, but Lucas added 3 tablespoons of oil, 3 tablespoons of soy sauce, 5-6 tablespoons of vinegar, and 2 tablespoons of sugar. Can someone explain the 3:3:1:1 ratio then?
Me too!!
He probably used 12 ts of oil and 12 ts of soy sauce, but it was edited out. On camera I counted 3 ts of aromatic oil and 1 ts of chili oil, but I suppose he actually did 8 and 4. Also the final volume shows way more than 3ts of oil. He then added 4 ts of vinegar and probably 4 ts of sugar. When he pours the 2 ts of sugar we can see there is already some sugar in the sauce
Editing error. If it was 3 tbsp of oil and 3 tbsp soy sauce, then that would be 6 tbsp of liquid in the bowl before adding vinegar and a 67% increase in volume after adding vinegar, but as you can see, the liquid level barely moved. He probably used 12 tbsp oil and 12 tbsp soy sauce between the cuts. The total volume would be 1.75 cups after vinegar is added, which eyeballing the bowl looks right.
Yeah. I think it's an editing issue... I went back and forth on the ratios and counts.... Would love an edited comment to clarify this point.
just follow the ratio bro they probably didnt film everything he added into the sauce. he explains the ratio very clearly lol
Wait idg the 4 spoons of vinegar?
Once I saw an egg plant. As I looked into the pope’s nose, and peered toward the oyster, there I saw the humble origins of the egg. 🥚 Such a fowl tale!
You said balsamic is the best sub, and the listed a few more subs with significantly less sugar content. I say just do this if you have the c. vinegar.
What Lucas said about microwave cooking the food insider out is only correct within the context of his cooking of the eggplant, which was cut into fingers. With that size, shape, and with the typical water content and structure of eggplant, the microwave probably can penetrate close enough to the centre of each piece that it can be said to be cooked from the inside.
Food of different shape and water content will affect the microwave heating effectiveness and penetration and therefore is still cooked from the outside inward. Don't start microwaving whole your chicken breast thinking it's being cooked inside out, it almost certainly isn't.
why is the kitchen so quiet, compared to the one that he cooked mushroom. it's nice if he can give a tasting to people around there again.
There’s a Korean version of the eggplant salad which has a similar flavour profile but is heavier on the garlic and has fermented bean paste as well. The eggplant is also steamed but afterwards is shredded by hand rather than pre-cut. Koreans seem to think that it’s tastier that way.
It must use just a hint of fermented bean paste? It is such a dominant and salty flavor. I spread it on puffed corn crackers but that is just me!
Lucas, you said the ratio was 3-3-1-1 (oil, soy, vinegar, sugar), but you put 4 vinegar into the mix. why?
do you not understand how ratios work
yep I do... maybe you do not. he did a 3341, not a 3311. it is why I am asking about the 4Tbl of vinegar.@@khu7379
Bet his salad turned out extra tangy.
The microwave doesn’t cook things inside out.
It sorta does since the water throughout the vegetable in this case, is heated relatively evenly not by conduction of cold vegetable into boiling water.
What on earth… 3:3:1:1 but then proceeds to add -
3 tablespoons of seasoned oil
1 tablespoon of chilli oil
4 tablespoons of soy sauce
2 tablespoons of sugar
What have I missed?!
完全是被颜值吸引进来的，帅到掉渣！
there's something extremely 2015 about this video i cant put my finger on
its a salad like a bean salad or a caprice salad are salads.
3:3:1:1
Adds 4 spoons of vinegar…
🤷♂️
It's an editing error. If you look at the recipe in the description it says
2 tablespoons distilled white vinegar
3 tablespoons Chinese light soy sauce
1 1/2 tablespoons seasoning oil (see above)
1 1/2 tablespoons chili crisp, such as Fly By Jing
1 tablespoon Chinese Zhenjiang (black) vinegar
1 tablespoon granulated sugar
The 2 tbsp of white vinegar is for soaking the eggplant.
1 1/2 (tbsp of seasoning oil + chili crisp (chili crisp)) = 3 tbsp of oil
3 tbsp soy sauce
1 tbsp black vinegar
1 tbsp sugar.
He literally counts 4 spoons of vinegar... ua-cam.com/video/YhDnv5ywdjg/v-deo.html @@lubanks6278
Bro he’s talking so softly it sounds like a voice over. Lol
Marry me 🙂
I think you got your ratio wrong
I'm utterly confussed. You say the ratio is 3:3:1:1 and then you put 4 spoons of vinegar into it.
0:26 of course "salad" is western term/concept, but there's nothing he said that makes 涼拌菜 definitely distinct from salads. western potato salads consist of cooked ingredients served cold as well. the term "salad" is so broad in the west that it's nearly meaningless.
There is something that makes those two concepts distinct. In China, "salad" would be what you eat at a café, and 涼拌菜 would be what you eat at a Chinese restaurant. So the two lists of recipes would look different, and the clientele would also be somewhat different.
Food 52 doin an info intro for white ppl while Made With Lau’s eggplant has grandpa speaking Cantonese and wagging an eggplant like a d***
3:3:1:1, come on man, you think he would give away ancient Chinese secret? Keep guesssing...
The ratio errors are sloppy. I really like this chef but this is sad.
Jesus, listening to the description of the Chinese eggplant was a little difficult 😂😂😂😂. Thank God it was not an African eggplant.
so dumb, he does not follow the 3:3:1:1 ratio. How am I supposed to learn from this?
next video, Lucas's facial hair routine! digging his new look
3;3;4;1 is what he used...
Did the Egg Plant flex on you for being a vegetable?