Eggplant “Bangus” Steak (Vegan Filipino “Milkfish” Steak)

5 from 1 vote

This Vegan Eggplant “Bangus” Steak is a playful vegan take on bangus or milkfish, which is a common fish in the Philippines that’s very commonly used in Filipino cuisine.

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Prep Time 15 mins

Cook Time 25 mins

Total Time 40 mins

Course Main Course

Cuisine Asian, Filipino, Southeast Asian

Servings

Calories 101 kcal

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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