Thursday, August 09, 2007

Stuffed Baby Eggplants

When I saw these little tiny baby eggplants at the store, I couldn't resist buying them. For my friends in Europe these are also called aubergines. Made them into stuffed baby eggplant party food. In Asia, these would probably be stuffed with fish paste, but I took a different route and went with ground beef to please my crowd.

I have seen a similar recipe for it in one of my many cookbooks, but didn't find it. So I improvised from my limited memory, and came up with this. Used a pound of ground beef, seasoned with pepper, salt, soy sauce, a little sesame oil and finely diced shallots. Cut the baby eggplant in half, keeping the stems part intact, and slice again to make a cross. Stuff beef mixture into the eggplant. Dip in sesame seeds and deep fry was what I recalled.Note: All the eggplant lovers enjoyed the soft texture of the baby eggplant with the ground beef and sesame seeds. It's kinda like poppers as you can finish it in one bite. Served this dish with some spicy red chili sauce on the side. Instead of deep frying the baby eggplants, I browned it with a little oil in the pan and finished it in the oven.

19 comments:

Cate said...

Oooh, the baby eggplant are so cute!

KellytheCulinarian said...

Those are a beautiful color on their own, but the presentation is really interesting.

East Meets West Kitchen said...

Thanks Cate and Kelly!

Anonymous said...

Looks fantastic. Unfortunately no baby eggplant here :(

Retno Prihadana said...

I love these, especially with chili/sambal.

East Meets West Kitchen said...

Thanks Cooking Ninja! Maybe you can try it with other baby veggies?

Hi Retno prihadana,
They are fun and spicy with chili sambal!

Little Corner of Mine said...

This looks mouth-watering! I can almost taste it from your picture.
YUM!

Anonymous said...

I have seen smaller ones for curry, but never seen this size eggplants before. They must be sweet and yummy!

Cris said...

That's funny, our kitchens sometimes have alike recipes. :-) I made some eggplant antepasto the other day. This definetly sounds soo good! The sesame seeds added an special touch.

Cris said...

And I forgot to thank for telling me the difference between tortellini and capelleti. Thanks!

eastcoastlife said...

Looks cute. A good dish to serve to dinner guests. My hubby loves eggplants but he doesn't eat beef. so I would have to change the stuffing. :)

Weylin said...

Oh wow. That's real pretty, especially how you captured the colour. You could also halve them up and scoop out the eggplant, then make a grilled babaganoush or a terrine with sundried tomatoes and cheese and use them like little cups to be refilled. That's what I've been using my Japanese eggplants here for, cos they are fairly common.

East Meets West Kitchen said...

Hey C,
Thanks! LOL! You have great imagination leh!

Hey San.y,
They are sweet and yummy!

Hey Cris,
LOL! We have great minds! ;) Thanks!
And you're most welcome! (replying on the second comment) :)

Hey eastcoastlife,
Thanks! Ground pork or chicken will be good with it too!

Hey Weylin,
Thanks! Hmmm, that sounds wonderful too!

Indonesia Eats said...

I love this eggplant...

Anonymous said...

I'm not really a fan of eggplant. Dunno why. I rather eat bittergourds.

East Meets West Kitchen said...

Thanks Andaliman!

Hey Tigerfish,
OK. You keep the bittergourds, and I'll handle the eggplants! ;)

Rasa Malaysia said...

These baby egg plants are so adorable. I didn't like egg plants before but recently discovered that they are actually quite tasty! LOL. If I were to stuff my egg plants, I will fill them with shrimp, I am such a shrimpoholic. LOL.

East Meets West Kitchen said...

Hi Rasa Malaysia,
Shrimp stuffing sounds yummy too!

Sue Sue said...

EMWK,
This is good and the cute little eggplant is so adorable. But so far I haven't come across any baby eggplant here.