Cold eggplant side dish

Hello foodies! : )

How are you doing in these hot summer days?
How about making this cold eggplant soup side dish?
When you serve this side dish for your family and friends in a glass or ceramic bowl with some ice cubes floating on top, it will be the first thing they try out of everything on the table. Who could resist this ice-cold looking soup?

Personally I love the texture of steamed eggplant, so I love any dishes are made from it. I posted my gajinamul (seasoned steamed eggplant side dish) a few years ago, which has been loved by many of my readers. But sometimes I am also told: “Maangchi, I love it but my children don’t like eggplant.” If so, I recommend replacing gaji (eggplant) with their favorite ingredients like broccoli, bok choi, or cucumber. Check out my cold cucumber soup recipe, too.

Let me know if you invent your own Korean style cold soup side dish made with your favorite ingredient. You can say, “I made […ingredient…] naengguk.”

Let’s enjoy gaji-naengguk together before this summer is gone.

Oh, some of you may ask me: “Can I make it in the winter?”
“Yes, you can! Why not!” That’s my answer.

Ingredients:

• 1 Korean eggplant (5 ounces: 140-150 grams), washed with the tops removed
• 1 tbs chopped onion
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• 1 tbs chopped green chili pepper
• 1 tbs chopped red chili pepper
• 1 stalk of green onion, chopped
• 2 ts salt
• 1 ts sugar
• ½ ts hot pepper flakes
• ½ ts soy sauce
• 1 tbs apple or white vinegar
• 1 cup of cold water
• 6-7 ice cubes
• 2 ts sesame seeds, ground

Directions:

1. Rinse an eggplant and remove the stem from the top.
2. Cut it into 2 inch pieces (about 5 cm), then cut each piece in half  lengthwise.
3. Boil 1½ cups of water into a steamer. When it starts boiling, add the eggplant and steam for 3 minutes.
4. Remove the eggplant from the heat and let it cool down.
   
   
5. Tear each piece of eggplant into bite size pieces with your fingers or cut with a knife. The desirable size of each piece is ½ inch x 2 inches.
6. Add it to a serving bowl that holds 2½ to 3 cups of liquid.
   
7. Combine with onion, garlic, green and red chili pepper, green onion, salt, sugar, hot pepper flakes, soy sauce, and vinegar.
   
8. Add 1 cup of icy cold water and mix well with a spoon. Add some more ice cubes to make it more cold.
9. Add crushed or ground sesame seeds on top and serve immediately with rice and a few more side dishes.