How to make delicious and attractive crispy pickled eggplant from Ha Tien at home

How to Prepare Hà Tiên Pickled Eggplant

• 1

  Prepare the eggplant

  Fresh eggplants bought should be washed thoroughly with water, then placed in a colander and cut off the stems to remove the dirt sticking to the eggplants.

  Next, put the eggplants in a stainless steel bowl, add a little leftover rice, and use your hands to mix the mixture thoroughly to remove all the dirt clinging to the eggplants.

  After that, rinse the eggplants several times with water and place them in a colander.

  Put a pot on the stove, boil about 2 liters of water, and add 3 tablespoons of salt to briefly blanch the eggplants.

  Place the colander with eggplants over a stainless steel bowl and pour the boiled water over the colander, using a ladle to stir evenly so that the eggplants are partially cooked.

  Finally, continue to rinse with water after blanching and place them in a larger colander, spreading them out, then leave them to dry in the sun for about 2 – 3 hours so that when making pickled eggplants, they will absorb the flavors more quickly and taste better.

  

  

  

  
• 2

  Prepare the brine for pickling eggplant

  You peel the skin off 5 cloves of garlic and cut off the stems of 15 chili peppers. Then, put all the ingredients into a blender and blend at medium speed for about 3 minutes until finely chopped. You can adjust the amount of garlic and chili according to your taste!

  Next, place a pot on the stove, add 900ml of pure anchovy fish sauce, 600g of sugar, and about 5 teaspoons of monosodium glutamate, stir well and cook until it thickens, then turn off the heat and remove the pot from the stove to cool.

  You will add the finely chopped garlic and chili and mix well to completely dissolve the pickling liquid for the eggplant.

  

  
• 3

  Pickling the eggplant

  You need to prepare a large glass jar for pickling the eggplant.

  First, put all the eggplants into the pickling water and mix well for about 5 minutes to allow the eggplants to absorb the seasoning. After that, you will put the mixture into the glass jar and let it pickle for 6 – 8 hours before it can be used!

  

  

  

  
• 4

  Final Product

  The crispy and chewy cà xỉu, rich and fatty, harmoniously blended with the moderately salty pickling mixture, spicy chili, and fragrant garlic, has resulted in an incredibly delicious and distinctive Hà Tiên cà xỉu fish sauce.

  When enjoying, you can squeeze in a bit of lemon to enhance the flavor of the dish. This fish sauce is very suitable to eat with hot rice, fresh vegetables, cucumber, and mango!