Eggplant with Black Bean Sauce
(adapted from The Essential Asian Cookbook. Whitecap Books. 2000.)
Prep time: 20 min Cooking time: 35 min
Serves 4
Ingredients
500 g 1 lb BC Greenhouse Growers’ Eggplant
60 ml 1/4 c neutral oil such as sunflower, grapeseed, avocado
4 cloves garlic, peeled, chopped
4 cm 1 1/2 in piece of fresh ginger, grated
2 medium onions, finely chopped
80 ml 1/3 c chicken or vegetable broth
10 ml 2 tsp canned black beans, rinsed and roughly chopped
30 ml 2 tbsp oyster sauce
15 ml 1 tbsp soy sauce
10 ml 2 tsp fish sauce (pref Squid or Red Boat brand)
4 whole green onions, sliced thinly on a sharp diagonal
Instructions
1. Slice the eggplant into long slices and lightly brush each side with oil.
2. Heat a frying pan over moderately low heat; add the eggplant in batches, and cook until golden on both sides; remove from the pan. Do not hurry this process as cooking the eggplant slowly allows the natural sugars to caramelize and produces a wonderful flavour. If the eggplant begins to burn, reduce the heat and sprinkle it with a little water.
3. Increase the heat to medium high, and add any remaining oil, the garlic, ginger, onion and about 15 ml/1 tbsp of the broth; cover and cook for a3 minutes. Add the remaining stock, black beans, oyster sauce, soy sauce and fish sauce. Bring to the boil and cook for 2 minutes. Return the eggplant to the pan and simmer for 2 minutes or until heated through.
4. Transfer to a serving bowl, scatter with the green onions and serve.
NOTES:
This dish can be made gluten free by using GF soy and oyster sauces. Check labels on other items for gluten-containing ingredients. Black beans and fish sauce are usually gluten-free.
The dish can be made with any type of eggplant, globe or long.
You can also cook the eggplant on a gas or charcoal grill, heated to medium (approximately 180ºC/350ºF).