Thai Coconut-Scented Eggplant

Another “classic” in our home. Quick, easy but still very, very tasty. I really recommend the thinner, lighther purple Asian eggplant, but regular eggplant works too. You could pan fry the slices of eggplant before you add them to the sauce, but I don’t see the need in that.

RECIPE

450 eggplant, sliced in 1 cm slices
2 cloves of garlic, chopped finely
½ t fresh ginger, grated
1½ t clear rice vinegar
1 T fine chili sauce (or sambal oelek)
2 T fish sauce
4 dl coconut milk (tinned, unsweetened)
1 t (palm)sugar
1 lime, juiced
4 spring onions, thinly sliced

Heat a tablespoon of oil in a hot shallow saucepan with lid (hapjespan) and stir-fry the garlic, ginger, vinegar for about a minute or so.

Add the coconut-milk, chili sauce, fish sauce and sugar and bring to the boil.

Add slices of aubergine, add lid and simmer for about 8 minutes or until the eggplant is soft.

I like to thicken the sauce a little with a teaspoon or two of cornstarch mixed with some cold water.

Add the lime juice (always at the end, otherwise it could turn bitter)

Taste and add fish sauce, sugar or lime juice if needed.

Sprinkle with spring onion and serve.

Serve with white rice and simply stir-fried chicken to which you add a little Shaoxing rice-wine in the end. Fish or shrimp could work too. Slices of duck breast didn’t work, in my opinion.

From: A Passion for Vegetables (Wereldse Groenten) by Paul Gayler.