Fish Fragrant Fairy Tale Eggplant – Vegan

These Fairy Tale eggplants are like little purple Tinkerbells that flew in just to enchant your weeknight dinner.  Stir-fried here in a “fish fragrant” sauce that is all vegan and anything but fishy.

The flavors in this eggplant are very similar to those used in the Ants Climb a Tree noodle dish or vegan mapo tofu. that use that characteristic Sichuan bean sauce.

What does fish fragrant mean?

Fish fragrant eggplant is a classic Sichuan dish from central China.  

There is actually no fish in this dish.  Fish fragrant refers to the sauce that is often used to season fish but applied here to eggplant.

The Chinese have a similarly named “lobster sauce” that actually has no lobster in it.  It refers to the sauce that is often used for lobster.

The Secret Sauce

The fish fragrant sauce contains the following key ingredients:

• fermented chili bean sauce – the cornerstone of Sichuan cooking
• soy sauce
• fresh ginger
• rice wine  

This sauce would be suitable for green beans as well. 

What are Fairy Tale eggplants?

These are teeny, weeny, eggplant, such as if baby eggplant had babies.  

Each is about 2-3 inches in length and vary in thickness. They are also sold as large as one’s palm, but the smaller they are, the cuter they are.

Fairytale eggplants are prized for being sweeter, creamier, and less bitter than regular eggplant.  

They are similar to Asian eggplants that are long and thin, such as the Chinese and Japanese varietals.  

Will the eggplant stay purple once cooked?

No.  Not unless you fry it.  

The bright purple color only remains if you sear in the color with hot oil.  

If you roast, grill, or bake the eggplant, it will turn a murky purple, brown color.  

Therein lies the trade-off: additional color comes with additional calories from oil.

Many Chinese preparations will deep fry a vegetable or meat first before stir-frying. 

This works especially well with eggplant, so the purple color shines like a royal jewel.

Can you use regular eggplant?

Yes, just use the Asian varietal, such as a long, thin Chinese or Japanese varietal.  

Ovular shaped, globe eggplants are not usually used in Asian cooking.  In addition, the seeds are larger and may need to be pre-salted to remove bitterness. 

Fairy tale eggplants are special

Fairy tale eggplants are special because of the high ratio of skin to flesh.  The skin adds some firmness to an otherwise very creamy, mushy eggplant. 

More skin also means more antioxidants.  

The purple skin contains anthocyanins, a pigment found in red, blue, and violet-hued fruits and vegetables.

Does this dish have a lot of oil?

The eggplant is fried in a thin layer of oil then stir-fried with sauce, so it is akin to a deep fried dish.  Eggplant likes to soak up oil.  

If you prefer to roast the eggplant to use less oil, you can. However, you will lose the bright purple hue.

Why should you make it?

The sauce is vegan and contains so much umami flavor from the chili bean paste, soy sauce, and ginger.  No meat required.

The eggplant is very creamy and velvety in your mouth, contrasted with the bright pungency and saltiness of the sauce.  

Adult sized eggplant

If you can’t find fairytale eggplant, you can use a long sized Chinese, Japanese, or Filipino eggplant. Just slice on the bias into 1/2″ thick slices.

Sheet pan option

Spread the slices on a sheet pan and drizzle with oil.

Bake in the oven at 375 degrees F for 10-15 minutes until completely cooked through.

Then stir fry with the same sauce as the baby fairytale eggplant.

The purple color has distinctly faded to a darkish noir color, but the flavor is still so good.

This recipe is adapted from Yan-kit’s Classic Chinese Cookbook by Yan-kit So.  The quantity and number of ingredients have been altered to exclude rice wine vinegar and wood ear mushrooms.

Fairy Tales Do Come True

It can be addictive and should be eaten with hot, steamed rice.  Now go make those farmer’s market finds more “fish fragrant.”

Tips to make it better @ home

1. Sadly, eggplant will not retain it’s bright purple color unless you fry it in oil.  However, you can try the sheet pan option. Drizzle with 3 Tb of oil and bake at 375 degrees F for 10-15 minutes until completely cooked through.  Then stir fry from step 2.
2. Use a long thin eggplant such as Chinese, Japanes, or Filipino varietals if you can’t find the fairy tale sized ones.  Slice 1/2″ thick and use the same method to pan fry or bake on a sheet pan before stir frying with the sauce.
3. Make this dish ahead of time and store in the fridge up to 3 days.
4. Try this same recipe with green beans or firm tofu.

Other easy side dishes

Healthy Bell Pepper Recipe with Black Bean Sauce (Vegan)

Easy Korean Seaweed Salad Recipe (Vegan & Paleo)

Mashed Purple Sweet Potato Recipe (taste the rainbow!)

Do you like hearing about fairytales?  Please spread the Asian ♥ and share!