Seasoned Eggplant

My selected cookbook for November's Cookbook Countdown #11 is Seoul Food Korean Cookbook by Naomi Imatome-Yun. The second recipe I've made from this book is a delicious dish of Seasoned Eggplant.

A simple and easy dish to prepare. The only cooking involved is to steam the sliced eggplants until cook and tender. I use my homegrown brinjals, harvested when they are young and tender. The brinjals are not very big in size, about 5 to 6 " in length, so I have cut the brinjals in half lengthwise and cut into 2-3 inch lengths. Since they were young and tender, it took only about 5 minutes of steaming time until cooked and fork-tender. Transfer the eggplants to a large bowl.

The sauce is prepared by mixing scallions, minced garlic, sesame oil, sugar, gochugaru, sesame seeds, salt and pepper to taste, in a small bowl. Stir this sauce mixture into the bowl of the steamed eggplants, mix gently to combine so that each piece is coated with the sauce. You may taste and adjust the seasoning as desired. Leave to cool and serve at room temperature.

I served this with rice as part of a dish at dinner time and the family loves it. Tender brinjals seasoned with the sweet, salty, not so spicy sauce, is very delicious indeed! Makes a great side dish and would be good as an appetizer too.

Seasoned Eggplant (Gaji Namul)
(adapted from "Seoul Food Korean Cookbook" by Noami Imatome-Yun)
2 medium Asian eggplant
2 scallions, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1 teaspoon toasted sesame oil
1/4 teaspoon sugar
1 teaspoon gochugaru
1 teaspoon toasted sesame seeds
pinch of salt
freshly ground black pepper

1. Wash and cut the eggplant in half and then crosswise into quarters. You might have to cut it again if you have long eggplant. Then cut into 2-inch strips.
2. Put the eggplant in a steamer basket set over boiling water and steam until fork-tender, 5 to 10 minutes. Transfer to a large bowl.
3. Add the scallions, garlic, soy sauce, sesame oil, sugar, gochugaru, sesame seeds, and salt, and season with pepper.
4. Cool to room temperature before serving.

Brinjals from the garden pot

********************************

I'm linking this post with Cookbook Countdown #11 hosted by 

Kitchen Flavours and Emily's Cooking (Makan2) Foray

Grab a  cookbook and join us!

Cookbook Countdown is a monthly cooking/baking event, which I'm co-hosting with Emily's Cooking (Makan2) Foray.  Everyone is welcome to join us. How does it work? To summarize, you may select a cookbook from your own cookbook collection, to cook or bake from each month. That selected book shall be your cookbook of the month. You may cook any recipes and as many recipes as you want from your selected book of the month. This is a fabulous way of using your cookbooks at least once! For more information on how to join Cookbook Countdown, please click here.