Okra and Eggplant Stew

Bittermelon with tomatoes is delicious, eggplants with tomatoes should not go wrong too.


To create more substance and add more vegetables in this dish, I use another old recipe of mine - okra with tomatoes and include some eggplant mash into an already stew-like dish. Okra is very good in stews since the "slimy" factor perfects the stew consistency. Remember the last time you had Gumbo? Traditionally, one of the key ingredients is okra.

Can't even see the eggplant....it is that obvious.

Okra and Eggplant Mash Stew , first posted in An Escape to Food
(partially inspired by Real Simple - Eggplant Caviar, then adapted from the same recipe)

Ingredients: Similar to Recipe: Okra with Tomatoes; one eggplant

Directions: Roast the eggplant in the oven and scrap the flesh when eggplant is cooked (Refer to pictures below). Similar to Recipe: Okra with Tomatoes. When okra is almost cooked, add in the flesh of the eggplant

Steamed Eggplant Miso Dressing 味增茄子

I usually make a light easy dressing of soy sauce, white pepper and sesame oil for these steamed babies. Add some fried shallots - that will be almost heaven!


Today's version is done with red miso (in replacement of soy sauce). Miso (fermented soy) gives an added complexity to the otherwise "flatter" savory soy sauce.

Note: A simple technique to making a non-grainy bowl of miso soup is to slowly strain the miso over warm water. Hot boiling water might "kill" the good bacteria in miso. Adding miso-paste directly to boiling water will also be disastrously "grainy", sometimes "lumpy".