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).

Back to Top