Sichuan Citizen

Been curious about this swankily decorated restaurant on Donghu Lu with its red lanterns and wooden accents. Plus, expats have gave it a lot of hype maybe because its sister is Citizen Cafe and they also serve lovely drinks.

Being only two people at the dinner, the variety of dishes to try was limited. Might as well stick to the standard favorites. We ordered the tea smoked duck, mapo dofu, fish fragrant aubergine, and spicy bullfrog.


It took a short wait for the food to come out, the first being the tea smoked duck. The duck was not too fatty and the smoked process gave it a nice flavor. It was served warm to room-temperature. The duck was nothing extraordinary and it would have been nice if the duck skin had a bit of crispness to it.


All at once came the bullfrog, mapo dofu, and yuxiang qiezi. The portions were quite large for two people to share. The tofu in the mapo dofu was slightly hard and not as tender as expected, but still spicy enough. The bullfrog came in a huge bowl of oil and floated around a mess of greens hidden in the depths of the bowl. It was also the same spiciness as the tofu and served really hot. The cuts of bullfrog were large and generous. As for the aubergine, upon the first bite, it strangely had a buttery taste to it. The skin of the aubergine was also slightly tough.

Overall, I would say that Sichuan Citizen is more for the ambiance (or drinks) than the the cuisine. Dishes are slightly more expensive than if you went to a standard Sichuan restaurant. When choosing between Xin Xiang Hui and Sichuan Citizen, always go for the first unless the wait is excruciatingly long down the street.

Sichuan Citizen. 30 Donghu Lu, near Huaihai Zhong Lu. 东湖路30号, 近淮海中路. Shanghai, China

Paticlan Dolmasi (Stuffed Eggplant)

The light and delicious stuffed eggplant from Çiya Sofrasi in the Asia Side neighborhood Kadıköy in Istanbul induced an intense craving for more. No longer reaping the benefits of the foodie destination, a home-made version of this dish was attempted.

When roasting the eggplant, the skin was left on for its nutritional value. After roasting, the eggplant shells were a little tough and pliable, not soft for easy cutting. Perhaps this was user error as the oven used tends be hotter than the dial indicated and the eggplant did not need to be roasted as long. The original recipe for the filling was generous requiring more eggplants. The extra filling would perform well in a wrap with fresh greens as it is flavorful and wholesome.

The final result was more aesthetically pleasing though the taste was not what was expected. Although the flavor of the meat in this recipe was subtle, the stuffed eggplants served at Çiya were made without meat and if they were, the taste was even less noticable.


Recipe ideas that resulted from this run were:

• Leaving more of eggplant pulp in the shell
  
• Substituting ground beef for roasted eggplant pulp
  
• A combination of the first two

Patlican Dolmasi (Stuffed Eggplant) Serves 6 People adapted
6 Japanese eggplants uniform in shape
Olive Oil
1/4 cup water
1 Tbs Lemon juice

For stuffing:
2 Tomatoes, sliced thin
1 lb very lean Ground Beef
1 large or 2 medium Onions, chopped
1 small can Diced Tomatoes
1/2 bunch Parsley
1/2 cup Pine Nuts
4 cloves chopped Garlic
1 tsp Allspice
1 tsp Cumin
1/4 tsp Clove
1/4 tsp Dried Mint
1/4 tsp Dill
1/4 tsp crushed red pepper (add more if desired)
1/4 tsp Black Pepper
1 tsp Salt
Olive Oil
1/2 cup basmati rice

Cut eggplants in half (not lengthwise). Remove pulp. Slather the eggplants with olive oil. Place in baking dish and cook in the oven at 375°F until tender (about 1 hour).

In a large skillet, sauté onions, garlic and pine nuts in olive oil. Add ground meat and brown, making sure the ground beef is in uniform small pieces. Add spices, currants and stir well. Add can of tomatoes and rice. Stir, reduce to simmer and cover until rice is cooked (about 20 minutes - you may want to add more water for rice). Remove from heat.

Remove the eggplants from oven. Place the ground beef mixture in the center of each eggplant. Place tomato slices on top. Drizzle liberally with water and lemon juice to the baking dish and cover the dish so that it is air-tight. Bake at 450°F for 30-45 minutes. Serve.