Seared Eggplant with Dried Shrimp and Garlic 醬燒蝦米茄子排

If you want a little change on the usual ways of cooking eggplant, this post might be the right place to look for.

Let it be sliced, diced, or even mushed, these are the common ways to prepare eggplant in both eastern and western countries. But how about steak-shaped? Or more so like a fillet. 

Ready the eggplant into a big square or rectangular steak was somewhat a fun thing to do over the past year. There are many short videos on social media, mostly for Chinese and Japanese recipes using seared eggplant steak. The basic idea is the same, steam then sear the eggplant steak first then added with somewhat heavier seasonings. And here's my version of the recipe.

Seared eggplant with dried shrimp and garlic 醬燒蝦米茄子排 -

Ingredients?

• 1 long eggplant
• 2 tablespoons dried shrimps
• 4 garlic cloves
• 1 stalk scallion
• Some toasted white sesame seeds
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 tablespoon soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon Chinese rice cooking wine 米酒
• 1/2 teaspoon sugar

How?

Peel the eggplant then cut into 2 or 3 long sections.

Steam the eggplant for about 10 minutes. Once ready, remove and wait till cool enough to handle by hand.

After cooling off a bit, make a slit on the eggplant but don't cut all the way done. Gently spread out the eggplant from the cut to flatten it. Score one side, usually the top side of the eggplant steak if needed to help it to stay flattened. 

While preparing the eggplant, soak the dried shrimps in drinkable room temperature water for 10 minutes. Once ready, drain and pat dry then give the dried shrimps a fine chop.

Peel and chop the garlic cloves. Destem and chop the scallion, we are going to use the green part only for garnish in the end.

Have a pan ready and drizzle 3 tablespoons of olive oil or other preferred cooking oil. Switch to medium high heat and wait till warm. Add in flattened eggplant pieces scoring side down. Sear till the bottom turn slightly golden, flip and sear to other side till golden again.

Once ready, have a big plate lined with paper towel. Transfer eggplant over. The paper towel will help in absorbing excess oil.

Still using the same pan, drizzle more oil if not enough to evenly coat the bottom of the pan. Add the dried shrimps and garlic. Stir-fry and cook till aromatic. It might be slightly darkened but definitely not burning the garlic.

Add 1 tablespoon of soy sauce, 1 tablespoon of Chinese rice cooking wine, and 1/2 teaspoon of sugar. Cook till the sauce has been reduced a little.

Add back the eggplant and make sure both sides are evenly coated with the sauce. Once checked, transfer to serving plate. Sprinkle toasted white sesame seeds all over then garnish with some chopped scallion greens.

This is my Chinese way of prepping eggplant "steak." I've also scrolled through some Japanese recipes, in which they turn the eggplant into a more kabayaki style of seasoning. And the look highly resembles unagi don, one of the Japanese classic rice dishes. 

That would be fun too, with the sweet and savory flavor often found in Japanese dishes, I suppose you can even sprinkle some sansho powder for a pop of refreshing aroma. 

Other recipes using eggplant:

• Eggplant rollatini with marinara and pesto sauce
• Eggplant and minced pork spaghetti 魚香茄子義大利麵
• Cubed eggplant and ground pork stir-fry with spicy fermented bean paste
• Eggplant and tomato stewed rice 雙茄豬肉燴飯