Ingredients
Produce
- 4 large Japanese eggplants (or 2 large Italian eggplant or equivalent) – cut into 1 inch cubes
- 1 medium onion – diced
Seasoning
- 1/4 - 1/2 tsp Chili flakes
- 1/2 tsp Salt
- Thai basil (or red basil or regular basil) – chopped – optional
- 2 Tbsp Sesame oil
- 1 Tbsp Canola oil
Sauce
- 6 garlic cloves – chopped/ minced (1 1/2 Tbsp)
- 4 Tbsp minced ginger
- 3 Tbsp brown sugar (1/4 cup)
- 3 Tbsp reduced sodium soy sauce (1/4 cup)
- 2 Tbsp chili bean sauce
- 1 Tbsp sriracha
- 1 Tbsp rice vinegar
- 1 Tbsp white vinegar
- 1/2 cup tomato sauce
- 1/2 cup water
Garnish
- Scallions – green parts sliced – as garnish
- Toasted Sesame seeds
Instructions
- Heat 2-3 Tbsp sesame oil in a pan & add the eggplant. Add a little salt & some crushed red pepper. Saute over medium heat until tender but not mushy. Maybe 5-8 minutes. Set aside in a bowl.
- Using the same pan, heat 1 Tbsp coconut oil & sauté the onion with a bit of crushed red pepper. When soft – add to the bowl with the eggplant.
- Original Method : In the same pan, heat 1-2 Tbsp coconut oil. Add 2-3 Tbsp sesame seeds & the garlic & the ginger. When the garlic begins to brown add the tomato sauce, brown sugar, sriracha, chilli bean sauce, soy sauce, rice vinegar, white vinegar & water. Simmer over med-low heat for 10 minutes.
- Lazy Method : Toast sesame seeds and set aside, combine all sauce ingredients in a blender cup or measuring cup (if using minced stuffs) and combine. Simmer sauce in the same pan over medium heat for 10 minutes. (you can always leave the water out of the sauce and use it to thin at the end if you prefer.)
- Add the eggplant & onions & simmer another 5 minutes. Stir in some chopped basil (if using).
- Serve over rice garnished with additional chopped basil, the scallions & some additional sesame seeds. Drizzle with a small amount of sesame oil.
Notes
- So, this recipe has a lot of oil... the original was worse in that regard. I make myself feel better by using Canola instead of Coconut because 'Omega 3's'... and i use twice the eggplant to improve the ratio... and it was honestly easier to do that than half the measure of every ingredient that goes into the sauce.
- The Sauce is pretty awesome... you could use this to stir-fry any excess garden vegetables and it would still be great... you can just follow the lazy method and make up the sauce for an easy fridge staple, leave out the water, who has fridge space for that?!
- Original recipe added molasses... there is honestly enough sugar already... and my molasses was carob molasses because my husband likes to make chocolatey dark rye bread... it was not necessary.
- I make up a whole wok of this... like, a really big wok. I box it up into 300ml containers and freeze most of them for later laziness... when the eggplants grow they seem to produce in abundance... if you have a similar problem try this recipe and check out our Nasu Dengaku (miso grilled eggplamt), Essex boys caviar (thank you Jamie Oliver), and our smokey baba ganoush recipes :) Share the vegan love with more good food, less hate mongering...