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Naked Eggplant? Say what?!My whole life has been a lie.
I was raised to believe that the only "right" way to eat eggplant stir fry is to not peel the eggplants. It wasn't until recently that I discovered another way to cook an improved- more delicious eggplant dish. For this recipe, you could substitute the green long eggplants with any kind of eggplants you can find, but you have to be careful with the cooking time. No one wants to end up with stir fried blobs. Ready? Let's get started. |
Ingredients: |
For this recipe, you barely need anything exotic, except for the eggplants....
250 grams Green long eggplants, peeled 1/2 tablespoon vegetable oil 1/2 tablespoon Soy Bean Paste 1 tablespoon light soy sauce 1 teaspoon brown sugar a pinch of sea salt a handful of Sweet Basil leaves 3 chillies, sliced in half horizontally 4 cups water + 1 teaspoon salt = lightly salted water |
Preparations: |
1. You'd need to peel the eggplants first, then cut them into 1 inch pieces, then cut them in half again- horizontally. Soak them in lightly salted water for about 5 minutes before pouring everything into a sieve, draining all the water. If you'd like your stir fry to be more dry than in the photo I displayed, you may pat the eggplant pieces dry with paper towel before using.
2. Add oil into a wok, turn on high heat. When the pan is hot, add sliced chillies and stir fry for a few seconds before adding eggplants. You should hear the pan sizzles like crazy at this point. 3. Add a pinch of salt, stir the vegetables, turn heat down to medium and cover with a lid for about 30 seconds. 4. Add soy bean paste, soy sauce, and brown sugar in the wok, mix everything together, season to taste with soy sauce. 5. Once you're satisfied with the taste, turn the heat to high and add sweet basil leaves, fold them together and remove from heat. 6. Serve hot with a side of steamed rice. |