Stir Fried Eggplant With Pork Mince and Chilli Basil ผัดมะเขือยาว

8/4/2021

This is the sort of dish you would expect to see being being bought in busy food courts by office workers on their lunch breaks - Charinya Ruecha of @charinyas_kitchen

This is a well-known Thai vegetable dish, but the variety of eggplant that drives the popularity of the dish in Thailand is not widely available in Australia. In Thailand you would expect to see the dominance of a luxurious long green eggplant, while the purple eggplant variety you find in supermarkets here would surprise many Thais when used as the key ingredient.

This is the sort of dish you would expect to see being being bought in busy food courts by office workers on their lunch breaks (ร้านข้าวแกง) as the ingredients are cheap and the dish can be whipped together with little time.

Adding to the appeal for customers with little money to spend on food, the dish offers a near perfect balance of vegetables, protein and (of course!) rice.
Here’s what you will need.

Ingredients

300g eggplant
150 pork mince
5-6 chilli
3-4 cloves of garlic
1 tablespoon salted soy beans
1 cup of Thai basil
1 cup of oil

Sauce

1/2 tablespoon soy sauce
1/2 tablespoon seasoning sauce
1 tablespoon oyster sauce
1 teaspoon sugar
1/4 cup of water or chicken stock

Method

Cut the eggplant into strips and soak in salt and water for 10 minutes
Pound chilli and garlic
Mix all the sauce ingredients and set aside
Heat enough oil for frying the eggplant
Drain the eggplant and pat to dry
Fry the eggplant in hot oil for 2-3 minutes and set aside
Remove the oil and leave 1/2 tablespoon in the wok
Add pork mince and fry fir 3-4 minutes then add chilli and garlic. Fry until fragrant
Add salted beans and sauce mix
Add back the fried eggplant then add water or stock if it’s too dry
Add Thai basil and fry for 2 minutes