I make eggplant with this sauce quite often. Sometimes I add chopped tomatoes or roughly chopped onions instead of tofu. Sometimes I add a few leaves of parsley or cilantro. A lot of times it’s just eggplant without anything extra. It’s still very tasty and flavourful. Usually I cook the eggplant in sauce which makes the finished dish look somewhat not too photogenic, so this time I decided to take a different approach and pour the sauce on top. I must say, however, that as soon as I took the picture I mixed everything together and it was as good as always.
For 1 very generous serving or 2 portions if served over rice noodles or vegetables.
- Asian eggplant – 2
- Firm tofu – 1/2 package
- Oil – 2 tablespoons
- Black bean sauce – 1 heaping tablespoon
- Garlic, minced – 1 teaspoon
- Ginger, grated – 1 teaspoon
- Sesame oil – 1 teaspoon
- Parsley, sesame seeds to taste
– Wrap the tofu in paper towel and squeeze excess liquid without breaking the tofu.
– Cube the tofu.
– Heat 1 tablespoon of oil in a pan on medium heat.
– Fry the tofu cubes until the crust forms, about 1-2 minutes, flip the cubes and fry on the other side. You may wish to fry every side or just two.
– Transfer the tofu onto a paper towel.
– Slice the eggplant and quarter each slice.
– Heat the remaining 1 tablespoon of oil in the pan and fry the eggplant on medium heat for about 1-2 minutes.
– Make the sauce: mix the black bean sauce, garlic, ginger and sesame oil.
– Add the sauce to the eggplant, lower the heat, cover the pan with a lid and let the eggplants soften for about 5-7 minutes.
– Add the tofu cubes to the pan, mix and heat through.
– Serve sprinkled with sesame seeds and chopped parsley/cilantro.
Comments
– As I mentioned above, tofu is not mandatory in this recipe. It can be substituted for chopped tomatoes and/or chopped onion, this way everything is cooked together.
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