Sesame Eggplant with Sriracha-Honey Drizzle
This is a dish I have been thinking about making for a long, long time, but only recently got around to testing it out. I don’t know why I waited so long, as it was even better than I had imagined in my food-brain. One of my biggest “bad” food cravings is for sesame-anything from Chinese restaurants. This successfully mimics some of the textures and flavors, but with no grains or gluten in the crispy coating. I think you will like it.
For the sesame coating I put two cups of white sesame seeds in the food processor and spun them on high until they were partially pulverized. I wanted some whole seeds left for texture, with some finely processed to make it stick a little more evenly. If you want a more finely-textured flour, use a spice mill instead of the food processor. Note that the two cups that I started with was more than I needed for the recipe, but I needed enough volume to have it process effectively. I refrigerated the leftover sesame flour and plan to use it for some shrimp.
All of the quantities are going to vary a little depending on the size of the eggplant, so adjust accordingly. Similarly, you can adapt the sauce as you like, adding more honey if you prefer a sweeter sauce, or increasing the sriracha if you love spice.
This takes a little patience to fry the slices in a single layer, but it was totally worth the effort.
Sesame Eggplant with Sriracha-Honey Drizzle
Ingredients
- 1 large eggplant, trimmed and sliced into strips
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 2 eggs
- 1 tablespoon water
- 1 cup of sesame "flour"
- ghee or coconut oil, for frying the eggplant
- 1/4 cup sriracha
- 1 tablespoon honey
- 2 teaspoons toasted sesame oil
- water to thin the sauce, as needed
- sliced green onions (optional)
Instructions
- Place the sliced eggplant in a large mixing bowl, and sprinkle with the salt, tossing to coat all of the pieces.
- Beat the eggs and tablespoon of water together, and pour over the eggplant, tossing to coat all of the pieces.
- In a large skillet or wok pan, heat enough ghee to cover the bottom of the pan by about a quarter inch deep. You are going to shallow-fry the eggplant, so you want enough oil to do that. Heat the oil over medium-high heat. Dredge the eggplant pieces in the sesame flour and cook them in a single layer in the hot oil. Cook until golden brown on both sides, flipping once, and then remove to paper towels to drain. Repeat with remaining eggplant until all slices are cooked, replenishing the oil as needed.
- For the sauce, stir together the sriracha, honey, toasted sesame oil, and enough water to thin it to the consistency you like. Drizzle some of the sauce over each serving of eggplant, and sprinkle with sliced green onions, if desired.
