Eggplant Thai Stir Fry

Sharon123's Note:

Each piece of eggplant is dark and shiny and plump and soft, with wonderful complex flavors coming through-hot, sour, salty, and sweet! Adapted from Friedas.

• Total Time: 30 mins
• Prep Time: 20 mins
• Cook Time: 10 mins

Ingredients:

Yield: 3

Seasonings

• 2 tablespoons miso (or bean paste)
• 1 tablespoon soy sauce
• 2 tablespoons dry sherry
• 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
• 2 tablespoons brown sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon crushed pepper

Stir-fry ingredients

• 1 1/2 lbs Japanese eggplants
• 1 teaspoon cornstarch
• 1 tablespoon water
• 1 teaspoon toasted sesame oil
• 4 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 tablespoon chili oil (or 1/4 tsp. red pepper flakes)
• 2 garlic cloves, coarsely minced
• 4 slices peeled gingerroot, coarsely minced (1/4-inch slice)
• 1 whole scallion, finely chopped

Directions:

1. Mix the seasonings in a bowl until the sugar is dissolved and set aside.
2. Rinse and dry the eggplant and cut off stems; don't peel. Quarter them lengthwise and cut each quarter into 2-inch wedges. Set aside.
3. In a small bowl, dissolve the cornstarch with the water and sesame oil. Set aside.
4. Heat a large, heavy skillet(or wok) over high heat for 30 seconds. Add the olive oil with the chili-pepper oil(or red pepper flakes), swirl, and heat for 30 seconds. Throw in the garlic, ginger, and scallions and stir rapidly for 15 seconds.
5. Add the eggplant wedges and stir with a spatula in flipping and gentle pressing motions for 2-5 minutes to expose them to the oil.
6. Turn heat down to medium high and continue to turn and press lightly for 4-7 more minutes, until the wedges are slightly browned and flattened. Don't press them hard, or they might break and become messy.
7. Turn the heat back up to high. Give the seasonings a stir and pour over the eggplant. Stir in scooping and lifting motions for about 30 seconds; give the cornstarch mixture a stir and add to the sauce. Cook to desired doneness.
8. Toss quickly, then place into a hot serving dish. Enjoy!
9. Makes 3 to 4 servings.

Reviews

[Catnip46]

I never ate eggplant before. I bought some Thai eggplant at the farmers market and decided to give this recipe a try. The eggplant was nice and tender, the sauce was tasty but I just wasn't thrill about eggplant. I'm not going to rate this recipe because it just wasn't for me but I think other people would enjoy the taste of this nice sauce.

[*Parsley*]

Oh, this was fabulous! I loved how the eggplant didn't get mushy, but was just the right tenderness. The flavors were incredible. I made this just as written and I garnished with sesame seeds and extra scallions. Thanx for sharing this. Yum!

[Rinshinomori]

When I saw this recipe it reminded me of Japanese eggplant recipe using miso, a bit of mirin, sake, soy sauce, ginger, garlic, green onion and also stir fried, so I knew I wanted to try this recipe. The only difference with this recipe was addition of vinegar and hot pepper. This was delicious and the flavor right on! Since I did not have enough eggplant, I also used half zucchini and that worked out really well. Zucchini kept the form and firmness better than eggplant which gave this recipe counterbalance to softer eggplant. This dish goes really well with steamed white rice! Wonderful! Thanks Sharon123 for posting this recipe!