Eggplant Stir-Fry With Thai Basil
Tender long eggplant is simmered in a fragrant basil-infused sauce until rich and silky in this comforting Thai-inspired dish. Traditionally made with Thai green eggplant, this recipe works beautifully with Japanese or Chinese eggplant as well. Ground pork adds savoury depth, while crumbled tofu makes an easy vegetarian alternative.
Ingredients
Sauce
- ½ cup chicken or pork stock (unsalted) or water divided
- 2 tbsp fermented bean paste (tao jiew)
- 1 tbsp granulated sugar
- 1 tbsp oyster sauce
- 2 tsp soy sauce
- 2 tsp fish sauce
- ¼ tsp ground white pepper
Stir-Fry
- vegetable oil for deep-frying
- 400 g Chinese or Japanese eggplants cut into 2-in (5 cm) cylinders, then quartered horizontally
- 3-4 cloves garlic chopped
- 2-5 Thai chiles finely chopped, to taste
- 255 g ground pork
- ½ cup julienned red bell pepper
- 1½ cups Thai basil leaves plus a sprig for garnish
- cooked jasmine rice for serving
Instructions
Sauce
- Combine ¼ cup of the stock with soybean paste, sugar, oyster sauce, soy sauce, fish sauce and white pepper in a bowl. Stir until sugar has dissolved.
Stir-Fry
- Add oil to wok or pot to a depth of 1 in (2.5 cm) and bring it to 350℉ over medium-high heat. Add eggplants, a few at a time and fry for 20 to 30 seconds. Remove from oil and drain on paper towel. Note: We are just par-cooking the eggplants, so they should still be quite firm at this point. Do no fry them any longer than 30 seconds as they can absorb a lot of oil if they become too soft. Alternatively, toss the eggplants in a generous amount of oil and air-fry them at 400℉ for 6 to 7 minutes or until edges start to brown.
- Heat 1 tbsp oil in wok or large sauté pan over medium-high heat. Add garlic, Thai chiles; cook, stirring, until garlic starts to brown. Add ground pork and cook, stirring, until pork is broken apart and about 60 percent done.
- Add sauce mixture, then stir and cook until pork is 90 percent done. At this point, the pork should still be sitting in plenty of liquid; if it looks dry, add some or all of the remaining stock.
- Add eggplants and bell pepper; keep tossing until eggplants are fully cooked but still hold their shape, about 1 minute. Turn off heat and fold in Thai basil. Taste and adjust seasoning.
- To serve, transfer to deep plate, garnish with sprig of Thai basil and serve with jasmine rice.