Spicy Basil Eggplant Stir Fry

I was eager to make more stuff using the herbs that I’ve been growing since a few weeks ago. I’ve transplanted them into planter boxes and biggerr containers, but they are not looking too good. The basil looked especially yellow and weak. I got worried and went out to buy plant food and I’ve also been bugging Andy to go pick up some compost from the local recycling drop-off, but I don’t I’ll see that bag of compost until the first snowflake hits ground, hrrmmppphh!!

We’re going away to Mexico for 8 days on Monday, so we’ve been trying to use up all the vegetables that’s been sitting in the fridge for a while. This Thai inspired dish is a result of pure creativity, LOL! Use as much garlic and cili padi (bird’s eye chilli) that you want in this dish

Ingredients

• 2 Asian eggplant, cut to 2 inch long by 1/4 inch thick pieces
• handful of basil leaves, chopped
• Handful of curry leaves, removed from stems
• Garlic, minced
• Cili padi, minced
• Vegetable seasoning (e.g. Po Lo Ku brand)
• Salt
• White pepper powder
• Sugar

Method

1. Heat 5T of oil in a wok. Add minced garlic, cili padi, curry and basil leaves to the oil and fry until fragrant. Becareful not to burn the garlic.
2. Add eggplant to the wok and cook until translucent and soft. Add more oil if necessary. Eggplants are notorious for soaking up oil, like sponges, but don’t use too much oil because when it’s cooked, it will excrete the oil back out.
3. Season with vegetable seasoning, salt, pepper and sugar to taste.

Eggplant Stirfry with Chinese BBQ Sauce

This is a very simple stirfry dish again. I was cracking my head to think of how else I can cook my eggplants and I thought why not stirfry them with my can of Chinese BBQ sauce. My brain can barely function after work and after sitting in a traffic jam on the Detroit-Windsor border. As simple as my dishes look, I actually still have to think about how to cut the vegetables, what to use to accompany the dishes, what sauce to use, etc. Anyway, Chinese BBQ sauce  or sha cha jiang is a dipping sauce for Taiwanese hotpot dish. It is a bunch of blended spices soaked in oil. Some are spicy too.

Ingredients

• Chinese eggplants, sliced at an angle
• Cili padi or hot peppers, sliced thinly
• Chinese BBQ Sauce (sha cha jiang)

Method

1. Heat generous amount of oil in a wok. Eggplants use a lot of oil initially to be cooked, so if there’s too much oil for you after the eggplants are soft/cooked, simply remove the excess oil with a spoon.
2. Add in the sliced eggplants and pepper in the wok and cook over medium heat until the eggplants are soft and translucent.
3. Add a few teaspoons of the Chinese BBQ sauce to the eggplants and season with a pinch of salt and sugar.

Preparation & cooking time: 15 minutes

P/S: It took about 45 minutes for me to make this dish, the sweetpea dish and the seaweed soup I’ve posted prior to this. 

Eggplant Kungpow Stirfry with Walnuts

This recipe is for 2 medium sized Asian eggplants.  

In a hot wok, heat 2 – 3 tbsps of oil. Fry walnuts (or cashews) and dried chili peppers until they start to turn brown. Add in eggplants (brinjals) that had been cut lengthwise about 2 – 3 inches. You can also cut them in “satay cucumber” style – angled corner pieces. Fry the eggplant until they start to soften and look transclucent. Add more oil if needed, but not too much because the eggplant will release the oil back into the wok when it is cooked.

For the sauce, pour 3 tbsps or more oyster sauce into the wok with the eggplants, nuts and dried chili still in it. Lower the heat to allow for time to adjust the sauce’s taste and consistency. Sprinkle a pinch of salt, about 1 tbsp of sugar and a dash of white pepper. Adjust the sauce by adding in more sugar or soy sauce. Once the sauce is done, remove from heat and plate.

Garnish with chopped cilantro and a sprinkle of toasted sesame seeds.

Wonton Noodles with Vegetable Curry

We had leftover wonton noodles from last night, so I made a simple vegetable curry with okra, eggplant, tomatoes and tau foo pok to go with the noodles.

My curry varies depending on whatever I can dig out of the fridge. For this version, here’s what I have included:

Ingredients
Mix 1 cup of curry powder (any mix you like) with water to turn into a thick paste. Add a few tablespoons of oil into this mixture.
1 cup of blended chili. You can use chili boh if you like, but since I don’t have any, I blended some chipotle chili intead.
1 can of coconut milk
1 thumbsize ginger, grated finely
Handful of Mustard seed
Okra (bendi), eggplant (brinjal), tomatoes, tau foo pok
I wish that I had serai, but didn’t get it since this is last minute

Method
If using brinjal, fry in hot oil and set aside.
Heat 3 tablespons of oil. Fry mustard seed in hot oil until they start to pop. Add grated ginger and fry until fragrant.
Add curry paste mixture into the oil and fry until fragrant.
Pour chili paste into the curry mixture and mix until combined.
Add bendi and tomatoes into the mixture and coat evenly.
Pour in vegetable broth to dilute the mixture. Let the vegetables cook in the broth until semi-softened.
Add in tau foo pok to the simmering pot.
Add in the can of coconut milk and mix evenly when the vegetables are almost done.

Season with salt and brown sugar. Stir in the brinjal prior to serving.
Garnish with fresh beansprouts and parsley. Also include a wedge of lime/lemon if a little hint of sourness is desired.