Let's Do Lunch: Tribe Chef Brandon Trowbridge's Spicy Eggplant Caponata Wraps
Sponsored by TooToo Organic Farm (沱沱工社) – find all of the organic, natural, and healthy ingredients you’ll need for this recipe and more by visiting their English online shopping website: shop.tootoo.cn – it’s easy to make orders and get your products via TooToo’s own Cold-Chain logistics system to your door. Ask your favorite restaurant where they source their food supplies – TooToo Organic Farm can be your reliable resource!
Chef Brandon Trowbridge may be a fan of the recipe for today’s dish, Spicy Eggplant Caponata Wraps, but that doesn’t mean he follows each of its steps to the letter.
As Trowbridge, who cooks at Tribe organic restaurant, readies the buckwheat noodles that are served with the dish, he says that he doesn’t use a timer to determine if they’re ready. “When cooking the noodles, to make sure they’re not too soft, I just check by taste. I don’t follow directions very well,” he adds with a chuckle.
Trowbridge says this intuitive approach can help those of us hoping to become more adept in the kitchen. “Judging your dish’s readiness by taste doesn’t just make you more flexible, it helps you to learn and become a real cook. That way you’re cooking by judgement and not directions. And that way you can make the things that you desire, and start to invent ideas of your own, rather than just doings what other people have done.”
Such flexibility is necessary for today’s eggplant dish. The noodles called for in the recipe could vary, depending on which type and brand are purchased, meaning that some may soften more quickly than others (although the chef highly recommends TooToo's Inner Mongolian buckwheat noodles). Trowbridge says the best way to know is to have a nibble or two as they’re being prepared.
Employing that degree of versatility can also help make the dish better suited for a variety seasons. While today’s recipe calls for the dish to be served cold, Trowbridge says that its noodles and eggplant can be served hot in the wintertime – turning it into prime comfort food to ward off Beijing’s fierce winds. “I often just prefer to serve these kinds of dishes at room temperature,” he says, before adding: “I find that to be easier, because you’re not worrying about as many steps. But a lot of the details in this dish can just change with your preference.”
Spicy Eggplant Caponata Wraps
Ingredients
For the Eggplant
1 large eggplant, diced small
2 cloves garlic, crushed and peeled
3 1/2 tablespoons rice vinegar
2 tablespoons reduced-sodium soy sauce
2 tablespoons minced fresh ginger
2 tablespoons honey
1 medium red peppers, diced small
½ medium purple onion, diced small
½ cup crushed tomatoes, from can
1 teaspoon sesame seeds
For the Dressing
1 tablespoon lime juice
1 teaspoon lime zest
3 tablespoons honey
½ tablespoon salt
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 red chili, finely chopped
1 teaspoon toasted sesame oil
For the Cleaned Veggies
Kale
Chard
Red leaf lettuce
Green leaf lettuce
Sesame leaf
Watermelon radish
Cucumber
Mango
Purple onion
Buckwheat noodles
½ cup rice vinegar
Directions:
For the Eggplant
1. Slice Eggplants in half, score with a knife and rub with 1 tb salt.
2. Let water drain for 10 minutes then sear eggplants in a hot pan until flesh is browned.
3. Set aside and let cool.
4. Saute garlic, peppers, onion in the pan until slightly softened, then add remaining ingredients to the pan and reduce the mixture to desired consistency.
5. Garnish with more sesame and fresh herbs.
For the Dressing
1. Combine vinegar, lime, honey, salt, garlic cloves, and red chili in a blender.
2. With blender on slowly add the oil. 
For the Cleaned Veggies
1. Assort all veggies on a large platter and combine to make wraps as you please.
2. Enjoy!
About the author: A ravenous foodie and frequent tbj contributor, Kyle Mullin has been working as a freelance reporter in Beijing since 2011.
Photos: Ken Liu
This series is sponsored by TooToo Organic Farm. Ask your favorite restaurant where they source their food supplies – TooToo Organic Farm can be their reliable choice!
Convenient, Safe, Fast, Economic & 100 Percent Satisfaction Guaranteed
TooToo Organic Farm offers fluent English customer service. Order fresh organic food online and get it directly delivered to your home or office. Sign up from today and enjoy same-day delivery in October, among other great deals!
For questions, please e-mail service_en@tootoo.cn or visit our website at shop.tootoo.cn
For more recipes made with TooToo's fresh organic ingredients, check out Chef Phillip Taylor's spicy Italian sausage and tomato pasta, Chef Robert Cunningham's mango and mint salad and Chef Jun Trinh's pork and shiitake meatloaf, flavorful beef larp and spiced fish cake pasta.