Herbs and greens of all nature are scattered across the kingdom of Hyrule. Though scarce in the desert regions of Gerudo, the rest of the kingdom has a bounty of vegetation, even the colder regions of Hebra. This dish combines Hyrule Herb, Safflina, and other wild greens, depending on what can be found locally. The vegetables and herbs are then fried over a hot flame.
"A healthy dish made by cooking mixed greens over a strong flame."
So this is a somewhat tough dish to attempt to recreate as the vegetation of Hyrule doesn’t necessarily have exact real world equivalents. Fortunately, the parts of the vegetables present in the in-game photo can be somewhat replicated with real world vegetables. Through a little analyzing, I matched them up as shown below.
So, to create this dish, the four small dishes I decided on were fried kale, fried green onions, simmered bamboo, and picked eggplant. Yes, two of those dishes are not fried, but they provide a nice balance to the other fried components. In the end, the result was a plate of simple (mostly) fried vegetables focusing on their inherent flavor.
Ingredients
Eggplant
10 Thai (or Kermit) eggplants
2 cups white or apple cider vinegar
3-4 cloves of garlic, smashed
3-4 thin slices of ginger
1 tbsp sugar
1 tsp salt
2 cups white or apple cider vinegar
3-4 cloves of garlic, smashed
3-4 thin slices of ginger
1 tbsp sugar
1 tsp salt
Bamboo
1 can whole bamboo tips, drained
2 cups water
2 tsp Hondashi granules
3 tbsp soy sauce
2 tbsp brown sugar
1 can whole bamboo tips, drained
2 cups water
2 tsp Hondashi granules
3 tbsp soy sauce
2 tbsp brown sugar
Kale
1 small bunch kale (or red chard)
1-2 tbsp olive oil
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1 tbsp mirin
1 to 2 tbsp soy sauce
Salt
Green Onions
2 small bunches of green onions
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp butter
Salt
For the Eggplant:
The eggplant should be prepared 3 days ahead of the rest of the components. Remove the tops from the eggplants and slice them partially in half. Slice each eggplant about ¾ of the way through from the cut top. This will allow the pickling solution to get through.
Place a pot over medium high heat. Add the vinegar, garlic, ginger, sugar, and salt. Stir to dissolve the sugar and salt into the vinegar. Bring the vinegar to a boil, and then remove the pot from the heat. Allow the pickling solution to cool for about 20 minutes.
Add the eggplants to a jar with an air tight lid. Once the pickling solution is cooled, pour it over the eggplants into the jar, along with the garlic and ginger. Seal the jar tightly.
Allow the jar to sit on the counter for two days until the pickling solution turns the eggplant to a yellowish light green color, and then place the jar in the refrigerator for one more day. After this 3 day pickling period the eggplants are ready to serve.
For the Bamboo:
Add the water to a pot over high heat. Add the Hondashi granules, soy sauce, and brown sugar. Stir the ingredients to blend and dissolve the granules; the will form a quick dashi broth. Bring the broth to a boil. Add the bamboo tips and allow them to simmer for 5 minutes. After 5 minutes, remove the pot Tom the heat; the bamboo is ready to serve.
Add the water to a pot over high heat. Add the Hondashi granules, soy sauce, and brown sugar. Stir the ingredients to blend and dissolve the granules; the will form a quick dashi broth. Bring the broth to a boil. Add the bamboo tips and allow them to simmer for 5 minutes. After 5 minutes, remove the pot Tom the heat; the bamboo is ready to serve.
For the Kale (or Chard):
Remove the thick portion of the stems from each leaf by folding the leaves over in half at the stem and running a knife along the edge of the stem. Rinse the kale in water to clean well. Fry the leaves and then roughly chop them into small bite size pieces.
Set a pan over medium-high heat. Once the pan is warm, add the olive oil and swirl it around the pan. Add the garlic and cook for 30 seconds to a minute, until fragrant. Add the kale and sauté for 2 minutes to begin to wilt it.
Add the soy sauce and mirin and cook for an additional 3-5 minutes, until the kale wilts and softens. Salt to taste and remove It from the heat. the kale is ready to serve.
For the Green Onions:
Prep the green onion by removing any brown or wilted portions of the leaves. Slice off the very bottom of the white portion of the green onion to remove the root fibers. Cut the often onions into 3 to 4 inch strips and then rinse them with water.
Prep the green onion by removing any brown or wilted portions of the leaves. Slice off the very bottom of the white portion of the green onion to remove the root fibers. Cut the often onions into 3 to 4 inch strips and then rinse them with water.
Set a pan over low-medium heat. Once warm, add the olive oil and then butter. Once the butter has melted and the pan is coated, add the green onion to the pan and cover with a lid. The water from rinsing the green onions will help to steam them a little. Cook for 2 minutes, then flip the green onions. Replace the lid and cook for an additional 2 minutes. The white portion should still be crisp and the greens should be tender but still green. Remove from the pan when finished cooking. Salt to taste as needed.
To plate, arrange a small pile of the kale either toward the front of the plate or behind or beneath the eggplants. Lay a small stack of green onion to the side, and two pieces of bamboo beside the green onion. Place three halves of the eggplants near the kale and beside the bamboo. Enjoy a simple plate of (mostly) fried wild greens!
Learn more about the Fried Wild Greens dish from Breath of the Wild at Zelda Dungeon.