I love eggplants for their silky texture and have really been enjoying cooking a lot with eggplant these days. This Sweet Chili Eggplants recipe is an easy stir-fry you can make and enjoy with rice or noodles of your choice. The sauce is a delicious balance of sweetness with a bit of spice that beautifully coats the eggplant pieces.
THIS SWEET CHILI EGGPLANTS RECIPE IS:
- Super easy to make
- Easily customisable to your taste
- Perfect served over rice or noodles!
SWEET CHILI SAUCE
Sweet chili sauce: Mix everything. This sauce is easily customisable and you can just djust to your taste.
EGGPLANTS
For the eggplants, I used long Chinese eggplants. I sliced these into short 2.53-inch (~7 to 7.5cm) pieces and then halved each piece. From there, I sliced diagonally into each piece to create this criss-cross patterns. I love slicing eggplant this way since I find the the sauce seeps through into the eggplant better. It also adds to the texture.
- Place the eggplants in a bowl and add a generous pinch of salt. Mix well.
- Cook the eggplant: Heat a large non stick pan or grill pan over medium. Add some oil. Once hot, add the eggplant, flesh-side down. Allow to cook for 2-3 minutes or until grill marks start to shot or when eggplants start to become tender when touched/poked.Flip over and cook the other side. Feel free to cook down the eggplant depending on whether you like it more on the overcooked side (very silky) or with a good bite. Do note that the eggplants will continue to cook in the sauce later on.
- If cooking the eggplants in batches, remove the first batch from the pan and set aside first before cooking the next batch.
- Add back in the eggplants (if cooking in batches) into the pan. Give the sauce another good mix since the starch can sit at the bottom.Over medium heat, pour in the sauce and mix with the eggplants. Allow the sauce to thicken from the starch and coat the eggplant pieces. Cook down for longer if you want silky eggplants but I prefer mine with a little bit of a bite.
SERVE AND ENJOY YOUR SWEET CHILI EGGPLANTS!
Looking for more Vegan Asian recipes?
You can get a copy of my cookbook, Vegan Asian!
If you crave vegan-friendly versions of classic Asian dishes, this cookbook is packed with Southeast and East Asian dishes inspired by those I grew up enjoying at home and those I’ve tried from my travels. From iconic Thai dishes to piping-hot Japanese fare and everything in between, the recipes in this will take your palate on a delicious food trip across Asia, and hopefully keep you coming back for more!
OTHER RECIPES YOU MIGHY ENJOY:
Sweet Chili Eggplants
Ingredients
Eggplants
- 1 lb Chinese eggplants or other eggplant (I used 4 long Chinese eggplants)
- Pinch salt
- Neutral oil for cooking
Sauce
- 1 tbsp tomato ketchup
- 4 cloves garlic minced
- 2-3 tbsp sugar adjust to taste
- 1-2 tbsp chili sauce of choice , I used sriracha
- 1.5 tbsp soy sauce adjust to taste
- 1 tbsp Shaoxing wine or other rice wine, optional
- 1 tbsp sesame oil
- 1/2 cup room temperature water
- 1 tbsp corn starch
For serving
- Sesame seeds
- Spring onions chopped
- Rice or noodles
Instructions
- You can see the video for a complete step-by-step.
- Sweet chili sauce: Mix everything. This sauce is easily customisable and you can just djust to your taste.
- For the eggplants: I used long Chinese eggplants. I sliced these into short 2.53-inch (~7 to 7.5cm) pieces and then halved each piece. From there, I sliced diagonally into each piece to create this criss-cross patterns. I love slicing eggplant this way since I find the the sauce seeps through into the eggplant better. It also adds to the texture.
- Place the eggplants in a bowl and add a generous pinch of salt. Mix well.
- Cook the eggplant: Heat a large non stick pan or grill pan over medium. Add some oil. Once hot, add the eggplant, flesh-side down. Allow to cook for 2-3 minutes or until grill marks start to shot or when eggplants start to become tender when touched/poked.Flip over and cook the other side. Feel free to cook down the eggplant depending on whether you like it more on the overcooked side (very silky) or with a good bite. Do note that the eggplants will continue to cook in the sauce later on.
- If cooking the eggplants in batches, remove the first batch from the pan and set aside first before cooking the next batch.
- Add back in the eggplants (if cooking in batches) into the pan. Give the sauce another good mix since the starch can sit at the bottom.Over medium heat, pour in the sauce and mix with the eggplants. Allow the sauce to thicken from the starch and coat the eggplant pieces. Cook down for longer if you want silky eggplants but I prefer mine with a little bit of a bite.
- Serve and enjoy! Garnish with some sesame seeds and spring onions, if desired. Best enjoying with rice or noodles.
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very tasty. Thanks for this recipe
Excellent recipe, Jeeca! Loved it! I paired it with jasmine rice, and it was absolutely perfect! Thank you so much!
Thank you Maneesha! Glad you liked it ◡̈
Looks amazing. Can we add tofu to this recipe to increase the volume?
Yes you can! You can double the sauce if you’re adding a whole block of tofu. ◡̈
Delicious! I added green onion, red, yellow and orange chopped peppers to it too.
Yay thanks Sue! ◡̈
This was very tasty! I’ll be making this again! I added a side of steamed broccoli.
Thanks so much Lynn! ◡̈