Stir-Fry

Japanese Eggplant With Ginger & Scallions

by:
December 16, 2021
4
23 Ratings
Japanese Eggplant With Ginger & Scallions
  • Prep time 15 minutes
  • Cook time 15 minutes
  • Serves 4
Author Notes

This Japanese eggplant recipe is made with ginger, scallions, and a slightly spicy sauce. While it pairs very well with fish (we had it with salmon), it can really be a side to just about anything. Perfect for when you need a light side dish that can be thrown together in 30 minutes and you don’t want to be boring (a.k.a. every Monday). —Vicky | Things I Made Today

Test Kitchen Notes

With a few simple ingredients and about half an hour of your time, you can have this gorgeous, delicious dish ready to go, whether for a quick weeknight meal or an impressive side. Featuring the magical combination of ginger, garlic, and scallions, as well as a quick sauce of soy sauce, rice wine vinegar, sugar, and cornstarch, the eggplant is infused with so much flavor. Be sure to taste as you go though as you're making this recipe, as some of the commenters below found that the sauce a little too sweet or a little too salty. This may depend upon your soy sauce and whether it's low-sodium, and feel free to cut the sugar in half at first and add the rest gradually until you reach that perfect balance for you. Adjust the ratios to suit your palate. And if at any time the pan looks too dry or some of the ingredients are cooking too quickly for your liking, just add a splash of water or two and soldier on.

You can serve the eggplant over rice for a heartier meal, or with fish, as the developer mentions, or incorporate whatever vegetables you have hanging out in the crisper—this recipe is pretty versatile. You can remove the seeds from the jalapeño for less heat, or use another mild chile, or just omit entirely if you're serving people who are pretty spice-averse. Season the sauce with some red pepper flakes if you want the kick but don't have any chiles around. —The Editors

What You'll Need
Ingredients
  • 2 tablespoons canola oil
  • 1 to 2 jalapeños, chopped
  • 3 garlic cloves, finely chopped
  • 2 tablespoons peeled finely chopped ginger
  • 3 large scallions, chopped, green and white parts separated
  • 1 1/2 pounds Japanese eggplant, sliced into thin rounds
  • 4 tablespoons rice wine vinegar
  • 3 tablespoons soy sauce
  • 1 tablespoon cornstarch
  • 1 tablespoon sugar
Directions
  1. In a large skillet over medium-high heat, heat the oil. Add the jalapeños, garlic, ginger, and white scallion parts and cook, stirring, for 2 to 3 minutes, until fragrant.
  2. Stir in the eggplant and cook, tossing occasionally, for about 5 minutes, until the eggplant has softened.
  3. Meanwhile, in a small bowl, combine the vinegar, soy sauce, cornstarch, and sugar. Once eggplants have softened, pour the sauce into the pan and bring to a boil, stirring to coat. Reduce the heat to medium-low and cook for 5 to 6 minutes, until the sauce has thickened.
  4. Remove from the heat. Top with the green scallion parts. Transfer to a platter or divide among plates
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8 Reviews

annritch
annritch August 21, 2021
Way too sweet as written. half vinegar and half sugar would be better
 
B
B August 21, 2020
After reading the comments below, I added the garlic, ginger after sautéing the eggplant (no jalepeño, because I didn't have any). I also had seasoned rice wine vinegar, so I just omitted the sugar. It was super yummy! I did have to add some water, as when I added the sauce to the pan, it must have been too hot and it cooked off super quickly and had a corn starch residue -- which worked just fine.
 
Wolfgang L.
Wolfgang L. July 1, 2020
I tried this today, and I found the sauce overly salty + a bit too much ginger for my tastes. also, the garlic/onions will start to burn in the pan before the eggplant is tender unless you use quite a bit of oil, which makes the dish less healthy. If I were to make it again, I'd add the sauce a bit at a time to taste.
 
Samantha F.
Samantha F. February 19, 2019
How do you cook eggplant in 3 tablespoon of oil after sauteed other things when eggplant diaks up all the oil?
 
Susan
Susan October 5, 2018
Very nice basic stir-fry sauce. I doubled the sauce ingredients (next time would not double the cornstarch as it came out a bit thick) and added some extra firm tofu when sautéing the eggplant. Great weeknight dinner!
 
Brian C.
Brian C. August 29, 2018
pretty good. it is basically sweet and sour eggplant.if you don't want sweet and sour. subsitute mirin for the vinegar and add just a tiny pinch of sugar and at the end a few shakes of sesame oil..
 
Terri H.
Terri H. July 25, 2018
If you are cooking this for someone who can't have gluten, it will be important to choose your soy sauce carefully as most has a significant amount of gluten in it.
 
ljacobsen_2000
ljacobsen_2000 October 23, 2017
Made this over the weekend, it was really easy and VERY tasty, enjoyed the spice level that the peppers brought. Will definitely bookmark and make again.