eggplant Archives - Sugar et al

A quick stir-fry of prawns and eggplant with a delicious chinese hoisin sauce. Delicious with rice or noodles and perfect for busy weeknights.

My sister and me are soul mates. It would still remain an understatement if I said it over and over again, which i think I have, quite a few times in this blog. But we are polar opposites in terms of personality, habits, and preferences. We see things differently but we mostly agree on anything so as not to hurt the feelings of the other. I think that happens when you get to see your loved ones after long periods. When it comes to food, I am the more passionate cook, my sister is the smarter one. In the treasured times that we are together, I think of the most delicious things to cook and feed her. She on the other hand,would return with packets of instant noodles, soups, canned veggies, purees and such if she went grocery shopping. She would scan the entire store and nothing would escape her sharp eyesight if it defines ‘quick’ and ‘smart’ cooking.
‘Cooking is secondary, let’s chat’ she would insist.

In such scenarios when time is limited, great food matters and conversations with your loved ones are dearer, a fabulous stir-fry is the answer. It tastes a lot better and is fresher than the takeaway and is ready in moments. I have realized over the years that Asian sauces make this happen quite easily. They are easier to store as they don’t always need place in the refrigerator.

Hoisin is brilliant as it is quite thick. It coats itself nicely on meat and vegetables. You can throw in whatever vegetables you have at hand. Prawns can be easily replaced with chicken, fish or beef. I always have a pack of frozen, cleaned prawns in my freezer as it cooks the fastest and the prep time is zero. The flavours are authentic and vegetables are crunchy which is the true essence of Asian cooking. You can eat this stir-fry as a starter or serve with steamed Jasmine rice to make a meal.

Prawn and Eggplant Hoisin Stir-Fry (inspired by this recipe from Taste.com)
Serves 3-4

1 tbsp vegetable oil
2 Lebanese eggplants (ant kind of eggplant will do)
1 cup frozen prawns (peeled, deveined and cleaned)
2 garlic cloves. finely sliced
3 cm ginger, finely sliced (or grated if you don’t like pieces of ginger in your mouth)
1 bunch baby bok choy, leaves separated
10-12 snow peas, trimmed
1/2 cup Hoisin sauce
1 tbsp soya sauce
1/2 tsp palm sugar/brown sugar
salt for seasoning
red chillies, finely chopped, to serve
a handful chopped chives, to serve
a handful fresh coriander leaves, to serve

Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a wok or large frypan over medium-high heat. Add eggplant and cook, stirring occasionally, for 3-4 minutes until softened and lightly browned. Add prawns, garlic and ginger to wok. Cook, stirring, for 2 minutes or until prawns have changed colour. Reduce heat to medium, then add bok choy, snow peas and cook, stirring, for a minute.
Add Hoisin, soya sauce, sugar, and salt and stir fry for 2 minutes or until the bok choy is just wilted and the mixture is coated with sauce. Garnish with red chillies, chopped chives and fresh coriander. Serve with steamed rice.

Eggplant curry which is spicy, sweet, sour at the same time. Great accompaniment with rice or breads and totally delicious.

On days when I go meat-less, one of my favourite things to cook are eggplants. Not only am I a big fan of the dark shiny purple skin and the soft mushy interior when cooked, I also love the ease with which eggplants take on flavours. Whether it is a Moussaka, a salad or my favourite way of roasting it on an open fire for an Indian Bhartha, this is an ingredient that seldom fails to bring out the creativity in me.

Having eaten and cooked with eggplants all my life, it wasn’t difficult for me to pair them up with Asian ingredients. Especially a curry. That way the eggplants become the star of the show and can effortlessly replace the non-vegetarian component of a meal. Sweet, sour, spicy, hot are the typical flavours that come to one’s mind when thinking about an Asian curry. This one has all of them. Feel free to play around with the quantities of each ingredient as per taste.

I have used Lebanese eggplants in this eggplant curry that are thinner and smaller than regular eggplants but very similar in taste with the large round ones. The larger ones can be used too but they would need to be sliced up into long thin pieces.

Spicy Asian Eggplant Curry
Serves 4

3 garlic cloves, thinly sliced lengthways
5 cm piece ginger roughly chopped
2 stalks lemongrass, outer skin removed (white part only)
1 tbsp. lime zest
4-5 red chillies (or as per taste)
3 tbsp. vegetable oil
7-8 small Lebanese eggplants, trimmed, halved or quartered lengthways
1 onion, finely chopped
1/2 cup finely diced tomatoes (I used canned diced tomatoes)
1/2 cup water
11/2 teaspoon finely chopped palm sugar
Salt, to taste
Coriander leaves for garnish
Finely chopped red chillies for garnish (optional)

Place the garlic, ginger, lemongrass, lime zest in the bowl of a food processor and process to a smooth paste.

Heat 2 tbsp of the oil in a large wok over medium-high heat. Add the eggplant and cook, covered, for 2 minutes. Turn the eggplant and cook, covered, for a further 3 minutes or until tender. Transfer to a plate lined with paper towel.

Heat the remaining oil in the wok over medium-high heat. Add the onion and fry for 2-3 minutes or until it softens. Add the spice paste and stir-fry for 1 minute or until aromatic. Add the tomatoes and water and bring to a gentle simmer. Simmer for 5 minutes or until sauce thickens slightly. Taste and season with palm sugar and salt.

Reduce heat to medium. Add the eggplant to the tomato mixture and cook, stirring occasionally, for 2 minutes or until heated through. Transfer to a serving platter and serve immediately with rice.