Stuffed Eggplant, with fish, meat, or tofu

There are a lot of different ways to stuff eggplant; this one was based on a recipe I had for Chinese bitter melon stuffed with fish paste. The fish paste is easy- just take any mild tasting fish fillets and puree (using a food processor or mortar and pestle) with a little bit of salt. I added some cilantro, crushed garlic, and crushed ginger as well.


The small eggplants were sliced into 1/2" thick rounds which were sliced about halfway through, and then further hollowed out with the tip of the knife. A small amount of the fish mixture was placed in each slice. The slices were then dredged in corn starch and fried in 1/2" of peanut oil.

You could also do this using ground pork or turkey, mixing it with some black beans, garlic, and soy (or prepared black bean sauce). And I recall a "mock oyster" recipe I came across several years ago that used mashed tofu, seasoned with the same ingredients.