Cambodian Inspired Shrimp And Eggplant

Though not the most beautiful of dishes, this dish is delicious. The eggplant in this dish is oven baked before being stir fried. Pre-baking the eggplant reduces the amount of liquid in the dish and keeps the eggplant moist and tender, a tip I received from a Cambodian friend.

Ingredients

4 cloves garlic, chopped
½ medium onion, chopped
½ lb shrimp (peeled and rinsed with salt)
1 to 2 lbs eggplants
1 to 5 tsp chilli paste (ex: sambal oelek, adjust to taste)
1 tbsp Low Sodium Soy Sauce
2 tbsp fish sauce
2/3 cup water
3 stalks green onion, cut into 1/2 inch length
cilantro, for garnishing
2 to 3 tbsp cooking oil

Directions

Spray or brush eggplant skin with cooking oil.
Preheat oven at 350F and bake eggplant whole (remove stem, leave skin on) on bottom rack of oven for 1 hour or until tender when pierced with a fork. Turn eggplant midway through cooking time.
Once eggplant is ready, remove skin of eggplant and cut the interior of eggplant into cubes. (Steps 1 to 3 can be done ahead of time)
Stir fry chopped onion and garlic in cooking oil until fragrant.
Add shrimps, stir until cooked. Remove shrimps from heat and set aside.
Add hot chilli paste until stir fry until fragrant.
Add cubed, cooked eggplant. Add soy sauce, fish sauce and water. Let simmer to thicken gravy.
Adjust to taste with additional fish sauce, if desired.
Add green onions, stir to mix. Remove from heat.
Garnish with cilantro. Serve with warm steamed rice.