Best Eggplant Ever

Tonight we went back to the Cantonese place our Singaporean friend introduced us to a few nights ago. I just had to have the eggplant again. It's the best I've ever tasted in my whole life.

Almost no one spoke English there, so finding out the recipe was tough. They finally led me to the kitchen and let me watch the process. Oh, the wonders of an authentic Cantonese kitchen!

First off, the eggplants were green and thinner than those in the US. They coated the outside in oil, pricked the skin, and grilled them whole over a low fire until the flesh was soft. Then, they cut it in half on the grill and basted the inside flesh with some sort of oil and what looked like soy sauce. There might have been a tiny bit of fish sauce in there, but I'm not sure. Then, they added a TON of minced garlic. Probably 4-5 tablespoons full. And a sprinkling of chopped green onions. At the end, they sprinkled something they called pepper on top, but it was brown instead of black. They were so good, I ate a whole one by myself.

JD and Clara tried a little of what we think was snake. It was chopped up in the fried rice, so you never know quite what you're going to get there. I'll attach some photos of stuff we didn't order there tonight. We passed on the fish heads, pigeon intestines, and papaya stuffed with frog gel. (How do you gel a frog?)

I'm cracking up at Clara's food choices here. Now that she's eaten chicken feet (which she LOVED) and fried eel, a little snake nugget was apparently no big deal. Who would have thought?

Also attaching a few more photos of Shamian Island. It's so beautiful here. 'Sorry they are foggy. The humidity is so intense, my lens fogs INSTANTLY. Before I can wipe it and snap, it fogs again.