These Vegan Eggplant “Bangus” Steaks are a playful vegan take on bangus or milkfish, which is a common fish in the Philippines that’s very commonly used in Filipino cuisine.
THE INSPIRATION
Bangus Steaks and Bistek Tagalog
This is a fish version of Bistek Tagalog or Filipino-style beef steak most known for its its savoury and somewhat tangy & sweet marinade and sauce served with lots of onions.
Growing up Bangus Steak was one of my favourite dishes at home because of how tasty it is. I love to have it served over rice for a complete and hearty meal.
USING EGGPLANTS TO MAKE 'BANGUS' STEAKS
Eggplants have this amazing texture when it’s silky on the inside after being cooked down. It of course doesn’t taste like fish but I love how it mimics how bangus or milkfish fish looks like when it’s filled.
Bangus or milkfish has that belly part, thats usually black and very rich. So to minic this, I added some cut up strips of nori and stuck them to the cooked eggplant pieces.
PREPARING THE EGGPLANT
For the eggplants, I started by puncturing these using a fork.
I microwaved mind until the eggplants were cooked through. This took around 3-4 minutes on high. Do note that it’ll depend on your microwave so you many need to cook it longer or shorter.
OTHER INGREDIENTS
ONIONS! Lots of onions.
And of course some calamansi or Philippine limes that I picked from out garden.
THE SAUCE
Mix together:
- 1/4 cup soy sauce
- 1/4 cup calamansi juice or lime/lemon juice (feel free to add 1-2 tbsp more for extra acidity)
- 1/2 tsp minced garlic
- 2 tbsp coconut sugar
Full recipe is below!
COATING & COOKING THE 'BANGUS' STEAKS
You can also check out the video I put together for a complete step-by-step on how I made these eggplant bangus steaks!
- Slice off the top stems of the eggplant. Cut through the center of the eggplants but do not cut deep enough so the back skin will stay intact. Open up the eggplants to “butterfly” these and then carefully flatten out.
- Cut up some nori sheets for each eggplant then carefully flatted out the seaweed on each slice.
- Place some flour on a plate.
- One-by-one place each piece of eggplant with the nori to coat evenly in the flour in both sides.
- Repeat this for the rest until all pieces are coated.
- Heat a large non-stick pan over medium high heat. Add some cooking oil and then sauté the onions until tender. Remove form the pan and set side.
- In the same pan, add a bit more oil. Place the eggplant on the pan (seaweed/nori faced down). Pan-fry each piece until golden brown and lightly crisp before flipping to cook the other side.
- Once all the pieces are nice and crisp, pour in the sauce and cook the eggplants down for 3-4 minutes until absorbs some of the sauce. The sauce will also slightly thicken from the sugar. Afterwards, you can add back in the cooked onions.
SERVE AND ENJOY
- Serve your eggplant “bangus” (or “milkfish”) steaks with sinangag (fried garlic rice—you can find the recipe here). Enjoy!
OTHER FILIPINO RECIPES YOU MIGHT LOVE:
Eggplant “Bangus” Steak (Vegan Filipino “Milkfish” Steak)
Equipment
- Fork to puncture eggplant
- Microwaveable lid and plate/bowl
Ingredients
Eggplant "Bangus" Steak
- 400 g raw Chinese eggplant 4 small
- Nori sheets
- 3 tbsp all-purpose flour
- 2 medium onions sliced into rings
- Neutral oil
Sauce
- 1/4 cup soy sauce
- 1/4 cup calamansi juice or lemon juice feel free to add 1-2 tbsp more for extra acidity
- 1/2 tsp minced garlic
- 2 tbsp coconut sugar or other sugar, to sweeten
To Serve
- Fried garlic rice or sinangag , recipe here
Instructions
- You can watch the video for a complete step-by-step on how to make these.
- Wash your eggplants. Puncture these with a form around each eggplant.
- Place the eggplant on a microwave save bowl or deep plate/dish and add some water (just enough to generate some steam as it cooks). You can also boil the eggplants until tender but I prefer to microwave these for more hands-off cooking.
- Microwave the eggplants for 3-4 mins on high or until these are tender to the touch. You may need to flip the eggplants halfway through cooking. You can also opt to steam or boil the eggplants until cooked.
- Do note that it’ll depend on your microwave so you many need to cook it longer or shorter.
- Meanwhile, prepare the sauce and feel free to adjust to your taste. Set the sauce aside.
- Leave the eggplant to cook for 5-10 minutes. Afterwards, slice off the top stems of the eggplant. Cut through the center of the eggplants but do not cut deep enough so the back skin will stay intact. Open up the eggplants to “butterfly” these and then carefully flatten out.
- Cut up some nori sheets for each eggplant then carefully flatted out the seaweed on each slice.
- Place some flour on a plate.
- One-by-one place each piece of eggplant with the nori to coat evenly in the flour in both sides.
- Repeat this for the rest until all pieces are coated.
- Heat a large non-stick pan over medium high heat. Add some cooking oil and then sauté the onions until tender. Remove form the pan and set side.
- In the same pan, add a bit more oil. Place the eggplant on the pan (seaweed/nori faced down). Pan-fry each piece until golden brown and lightly crisp before flipping to cook the other side.
- Once all the pieces are nice and crisp, pour in the sauce and cook the eggplants down for 3-4 minutes until absorbs some of the sauce. The sauce will also slightly thicken from the sugar. Afterwards, you can add back in the cooked onions.
- Serve your eggplant “bangus” (or “milkfish”) steaks with sinangag (fried garlic rice—you can find the recipe here). Enjoy!
WATCH Video
NUTRITIONAL INFO
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Easy to follow. I think I used too much sauce but it was delicious!!!
You can keep the sauce for any upcoming batches or even for other dishes like fried tofu! And glad you liked it, thanks so much ◡̈
Hope you enjoyed it! ◡̈
this was so delicious. the visual really reminded me of eating bangus and the slight ocean/fish taste from the seaweed was a great addition. I used limes instead of calamansi and it turned out perfect. I haven’t had bistek in a long time—eating this felt like the same experience with the sautéed onions and sauce. thank you for creating and sharing this dish. I’m excited to eat leftovers tomorrow!!
Thanks so much Lex, really happy to hear you liked it!! ◡̈
Hi, I was wondering if I might be able to make this using small zucchini instead of eggplant? This recipe looks delicious, but I seriously hate eggplant.
Hey Tassie! I’m afraid zucchini has a very different texture compared to eggplants. You can possibly pan-fry extra firm tofu instead and just prep the same sauce to pair it with 🙂
Tangy, Smokey, delicious! My son asked for thirds! ??
Happy to hear, Hang! Glad your son enjoyed it too ?