Spicy Vegan Chinese Eggplant

I feel you guys should know that I sometimes endure physical pain in order create the recipes for this blog.
For instance, the other day I was chopping serrano peppers and accidentally wiped my eyes.
You.Have.No.Idea.
It started burning like hell, so I jumped in the shower and hosed my eyeball off for 10 minutes straight.
Those of you who have tried to soothe a salsa-scorched mouth with water know that this does not work at all. It helps for a second, and then the burn returns with a vengeance.
In fact I'm pretty sure I made it worse because when I got out of the shower my eye was still burning, and was now bright red and swollen.
The heat and pain from spicy foods is caused by capsaicin, which isn't soluble in water — so it just washes over it and spreads it around without removing it.

I then remembered that the best thing to drink to get rid of the burn is cold milk.
So I soaked a towel in milk and hold it on my eye for a few minutes. Pretty much instant relief, and everything was back to normal in a few minutes.
Apparently milks emulsifies the capsaicin which enables it to be transported away.
Washing liquid or canola oil are said to be working too — I never tried ‘em though, so I can't really argue.
I think the silver lining of this unfortunate “burning eye” accident is that now I know what it’s like to be pepper sprayed. Ha!

Anyways you certainly won’t need to drink milk, washing liquid or canola oil after eating this Spicy Vegan Chinese Eggplant. Yes it’s spicy, but not that spicy.
Actually, if you’re looking for something tasty, comforting, and with a nice zip to it, this is it.
The taste is out of this world and it’s not terribly time consuming to make.

I made it last night for dinner and served with some orange chicken and white rice on the side: DELISH!
This is one of those recipes that makes your eyes roll back in your head, so tasty.
Trust me, you will love it.

Spicy Vegan Chinese Eggplant                                                                                                    Print this recipe!

Ingredients
Serves 4

1 lb / 453 gr thin Chinese eggplants, cut into small strips
1 onion, finely chopped
3 tablespoons vegetable oil (I used coconut oil), divided
3 garlic cloves, minced
2 tablespoons freshly grated ginger
2 teaspoons sesame seeds
½ cup tomato sauce
3 tablespoons coconut palm sugar (or regular brown if you don’t care about the paleo thing)
1 tablespoons Sriracha (make your own Sriracha with this recipe)
2 tablespoons sambal oelek (or other chili garlic sauce)
3 tablespoons soy sauce (or coconut aminos)
2 tablespoons rice vinegar
½ cup water
Fine grain salt

Chopped fresh Thai basil (or regular basil) and scallions for garnish

Directions

Heat one tablespoon of oil in a large skillet (or wok) over medium-high heat. Add eggplant and saute’ until tender but not mushy, about 6 to 8 minutes. Transfer to a bowl and set aside.
Return the skillet to the heat and add one tablespoon of oil. Add onion and saute’ until translucent about 5 to 6 minutes. Transfer to eggplant bowl.
Return the skillet to the heat and add remaining tablespoon of oil. Add garlic, ginger, and sesame seeds, and saute’ for 1 minute until fragrant.
Add tomato sauce, sugar, Sriracha, sambal oelek, soy sauce, rice vinegar, and water.
Simmer for 10 minutes over low heat until it starts to thicken.
Add eggplant mixture and gently stir until fully coated and heated through.
Sprinkle with chopped fresh basil and scallions and serve.

Nutrition facts

One serving yields 215 calories, 12 grams of fat, 27 grams of carbs, and 3 grams of protein.