Chinese stir-fried eggplant recipes
Eggplant is a vegetable that you always want when summer arrives, but in Spain, there are not many traditional recipes, beyond batter or escalivada. For this reason, today we suggest you look towards China, where they nail this vegetable in a recipe that we should prepare every week.
Sautéed eggplant in soy sauce is one of the most popular side dishes in authentic Chinese restaurants, which in Spain can be enjoyed in places like Madrid's Usera neighborhood, one of the largest Chinatowns in Europe. But, unlike other Chinese recipes, which are more complicated to emulate at home, this dish is very simple to prepare and does not need unusual ingredients.
The ideal is to prepare this recipe with Chinese eggplants, smaller, elongated, and of an almost lilac purple color. They can already be found in many Spanish greengrocers, but if you don't have them on hand, you can make them by cutting conventional aubergines. It is also delicious.
Ingredients(for 4 people)
- Chinese eggplant 500g
- sugar 2 tablespoon
- Meat broth 100ml
- Salt to taste
- Soy sauce 10ml
- Leek 1
- fresh ginger a small piece
- Fresh green chili to taste
- ground black pepper
- Peanut or sesame oil
How to make Chinese-style stir-fried eggplant
Difficulty: easy
total time: 15 m
Elaboration: 15 m
Repose:15 m
The first thing we are going to do is cut the aubergine into slices, without peeling, and soak them in a bowl with water and a little salt. It is important to put a weight on them -a bowl for example- so that they do not float and remain submerged. We leave them for about 15 or 20 minutes so that they soften a bit and lose the bitterness.
After this time, we dry it well, and sauté it in a large frying pan or a wok over medium heat with peanut or sesame oil, which are ideal for this recipe. (You already know that in China they don't use olive oil). When it is well cooked, we reserve it on kitchen paper.
In the same oil we add a tablespoon of sugar and, after a few minutes, a piece of grated ginger, half a leek, cut into strips, and one or two sliced chilies to taste. We fry it for a minute until it releases all its aroma and adds the meat broth, the soy sauce, another tablespoon of sugar, and the aubergine.
We stew everything for about five minutes until a thick sauce remains. We taste, we add more salt if necessary (soybeans are already very salty), black pepper and, voila, we already have our Chinese aubergine.
Indian eggplant recipes
Eggplant masala recipe / India Ingredients:
- Eggplant
- Coconut oil
- Tomato pulp (diced tomatoes, canned crushed tomatoes, or tomato passata also work well)
- Peanuts
- grated coconut
- Garam masala or Madras curry (other curries work too)
- Fresh coriander leaves (or coriander powder)
- Coconut milk
- You can always add a bit of fresh (or powdered) ginger, but it's not necessary.
- Black swamp eggplant.
How to cook Indian brinjal curry
Cooking Indian brinjals is easy. You just need to be patient to achieve the best texture. Does not require childcare, but does require some time.
The creaminess of the eggplants comes from the technique used. Are you ready to take your culinary skills to the next level?
preparation of the eggplant
How to cut the eggplant?
To roast eggplants on the stovetop, you can cut raw eggplants into discs or lengthwise.
For this recipe, be sure to slice the eggplant lengthwise, keeping 1/2-inch thick layers.
You may have only four or five. Leave the eggplant simmering, and the pot will do the work.
Large eggplant thickly sliced lengthwise. In a large saucepan, carefully toast the peanuts and shredded coconut in hot oil over medium heat. Make sure they only brown; it should take about 30 seconds. Add the oil and curry and stir for 1 minute. Add the tomatoes. Add half of the tomato paste and stir for 2 minutes. Add the eggplant slices. Arrange the eggplant slices on top of the mixture. Stir a bit and add 1 cup of water. Close with a lid (don't worry if the eggplants aren't completely covered). Bring the heat to a minimum and leave it covered for 30 minutes. Add the coconut milk. Open the lid, give it a little stir, and add the coconut milk, the rest of the tomato puree, salt, and cayenne pepper (or black pepper).
final touch
After 10 minutes, add half of the chopped fresh cilantro (reserve the rest for garnish).
Using the back of the spoon, lightly crush the insides of the eggplant slices.
Close the lid and cook over medium-high heat for another 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Decorate
Turn off the heat and leave the lid on, so all the flavors come together before garnishing the Aubergine curry with finely chopped fresh coriander.