Hot garlic eggplant

Three of my favourite things – chilli, garlic and eggplant-y goodness. A local vegetarian restaurant here in Canberra has this dish called ‘eggplant and mushroom in clay pot’ that my very omnivorous friend probably has steamy dreams about (if the noises he makes as he eats is anything to go by). The soft eggplant and chewy mushrooms, combined with an amazing spicy sauce is really quite close to perfect.

So a recent expedition to the farmer’s market led me to buy an eggplant and ponder what I could possibly make that was a little different from my standard (but spectacularly delicious) eggplant rollatini from Veganomicon. A short google of eggplant hotpot led me to this dish and with a little tweaking and a lack of hot bean paste resulted in:

Hot Garlic Eggplant

1 large eggplant, cut into strips and then bite sized pieces

1TBSP chopped ginger

1TBSP minced garlic

2TBSP Hot sauce (I used Sri Racha hot sauce)

2TBSP dark soy sauce

2 tsp white sugar

1 tsp salt, plus extra

1/2C stock

~1 handful of chopped green shallots

2TBSP corn flour + 4TBSP water

Saute eggplant in a little hot oil until golden, then add water and cook until eggplant is soft. Remove from pan.

Cook garlic and ginger in a little oil at low heat then add the hot sauce and cook for 30 seconds. Add the soy sauce, sugar and salt and cook for 2 minutes, continuously stirring until sauce forms. If sauce is too thin, add the premixed corn flour+water and stir until combined. Add the eggplant and cook for 5-10 minutes over medium heat. Add the shallots and take off the heat. Serve over rice.