This is what you should do with leftover turkey or chicken. Always.
It’s a variation on Karen Solomon’s Korean spinach recipe. She’s the author extraordinaire of Asian Pickles Korea, a book every exotic flavour-loving pickler should have. She calls herself a “culinary tinkerer,” so I hope she doesn’t mind my own tinkering. I intentionally made my rice mushy in this recipe for a congee-like comfort food quality. I turned it into a salad bowl because I had a ton of arugula, lettuce, kale and other greens. You could, however, just toss a bunch of cooked eggplant with the sesame dressing and call it a night.
Sweet Sesame Eggplant and Chicken Salad Bowl
5 Japanese long purple eggplant (or 1 large black one, about 2 lbs), peeled and cubed
2 tablespoons sesame seeds
6 tablespoons gluten-free soy sauce
2 teaspoons black sesame oil
1 small red chili pepper, seeded and minced
2 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon unseasoned rice vinegar
2 cups leftover shredded chicken or turkey
1 cup short grain rice
3 cups water
3 cups arugula, spinach, or lettuce
Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Boil or steam eggplant cubes until tender (about 5 minutes of simmering or a little more of steaming). They should be soft but not quite mushy. Check them with a fork (run a cube under cold water before trying to eat it…). Drain eggplant to remove excess water.
In a small, oil-less skillet over medium-high heat, toast the sesame seeds until fragrant, about 2 to 3 minutes. Set a timer! You WILL forget about them. Set the timer for 1 minute if you want, so you remember to shake the skillet and brown the seeds more evenly. Then set for another minute until golden. Pour the seeds immediately into a small bowl to cool. When cool, grind to a powder in a mortar and pestle, coffee grinder or spice grinder. If you grind them when they’re hot they stick to the blades. Makes for tougher cleaning but if you’re pressed for time, go ahead. Transfer seeds to a resealable container (if you’re not using all the sauce at once) or a large bowl (if you’re tossing it all with the eggplant now—the flavour stays brighter if you add it only before serving or use it as a dipping sauce, so if you’re not going to eat it all at once, reserve some in a reseable bottle or container).
Add the garlic, soy sauce, sesame oil, chile flakes, sugar, and vinegar. Toss the amount you want to use in a large bowl with the eggplant cubes. Reserve until ready to eat. Refrigerate if that will be more than 2 hours. Otherwise, room temp is fine.
Bring 3 cups water to a boil in a medium pot. Add rice and when water returns to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for 10 minutes, until rice is soft. Drain rice.
Toss arugula with eggplant and arrange on plate. Add a scoop of drained rice and leftover turkey. Serve with homemade (or store-bought) Sriracha or Korean gochujang hot sauce or kimchi, as desired.
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