Burmese spicy eggplant

I love eggplant, especially grilled or broiled. Broiling them instead of deep frying them makes them lighter and brings out the wonderful light flavours of the vegetable—a fruit, really—and charring them adds a wonderful smokiness to the dish. This eggplant is no exception.

This recipe is quite simple to make and wonderful. The salty shrimp paste adds a delicious touch of umami to the dish. The spices and chillies add pop to the soft, delicate eggplant. Although I served this as a side with the Burmese garlic noodles, I could also have it as an appetiser. This fabulous cookbook is like bringing my favourite Burmese restaurant, Burma Superstar, to my San Francisco home. The recipes are amazing, and the photographs are mouthwatering. I love cooking from this cookbook for my Burmese fix.

For more recipes from this wonderful cookbook, click here.

Ingredients:

10-12 Japanese eggplants

Salt

Olive oil spray

4-5 tablespoons oil for garlic chips + 2-3 tablespoons oil

2 cups white onions, finely diced

3 tablespoons garlic, finely diced

1 tablespoon ginger paste

2-3 Thai red chiles, minced or to taste

1 dried red chilli

1 teaspoon shrimp paste

1/2 teaspoon paprika

1/2 teaspoon turmeric

1/4 cup water

Fried garlic chips

Cilantro, minced for garnish

Lime wedges

For the fried garlic chips:

15-12 garlic cloves, thinly sliced

Oil

Start by broiling the eggplant. Slice the eggplants into half and, if very large, half the length. Layer on a lined baking pan, spray with olive oil, and broil in the oven until cooked and just beginning to char, about 5-7 minutes. You do not want them to be too mushy at this stage, as they will disintegrate in the sauce. Remove and cool.

Next, make the garlic chips by adding oil to a very small pot and heating on a low flame. Add the garlic slices and submerge them in the oil; you may need to do this in two batches. Fry until the garlic slices are golden. Remove them to a plate lined with paper towels to drain.

Heat the oil in a wok or saucepan. Add the onions and sauté on medium-low heat until soft but not browned, about 1-2 minutes. Add the garlic, ginger, Thai chilli, dried chilli, and shrimp paste and sauté until cooked and aromatic, about 2 minutes. Take care to break up the shrimp paste into the sauce.

Add the turmeric and paprika and sauté for 30 seconds. Add the water and bring to a gentle simmer. Add the eggplant and stir very gently so as not to disintegrate it. Allow to cook on a low flame until almost dry and the oils begin rising to the surface. Season with fish sauce, give it one final turn to mix and take it off the stove.

Serve in a bowl topped with the fried garlic chips and lime wedges on the side.