This Vietnamese braised eggplant is typically served as one of many dishes at a Vietnamese homestyle dinner. It’s savoury, tender and is comforting with soy sauce as its main flavour component to complement the neutral eggplant flavour.
This is one of those rather unattractive Vietnamese dishes I grew up loving and eating whenever I needed comfort. My mom would make this often and make an extra large batch so I could enjoy the leftovers over several days. It’s as David Chang often says: Ugly Delicious.
I’m not sure if anyone else grew up eating this much, but when I look up Vietnamese eggplant recipes, I can’t find any that have the same cooking method as my mom’s version. A lot of them require a plethora of other ingredients, some of them are cooked in a clay pot, some are steamed and then fried, but my mom’s version was simple:
Oil, onions, soy sauce, chili flakes (and/or pepper), and eggplant. It was one of those dishes she threw together in a pot in less than 5 minutes and allowed to cook and stew into itself for about half an hour until unctuously tender.
Typically this Vietnamese braised eggplant is a dish that you serve as one of the many sides at a meal, as Vietnamese dinners tend to have one “dish” per person, so everyone has a portion of each dish for a balanced meal. This time I cooked it alongside Vietnamese braised tofu (a veganized version of thịt kho)
I made this as a part of my Cooking When I’m Homesick video, so you can see the full cooking process of the meal and my experiments/cooking method, but if you prefer the short video of just the eggplant cooking, here it is below:
Vietnamese Braised Eggplant - Cà Tím Xào
Ingredients
- 1 tsp 5 mL neutral oil (I used canola)
- 1/2 medium onion finely diced (~1/3 cup)
- 3 Japanese eggplants tops trimmed, sliced into diagonal half moons
- 1/4 cup 60 mL soy sauce or Golden Mountain Soy Seasoning (add 1 tbsp at a time in case your soy sauce is saltier than mine)
- 1/2 tsp 2.5 mL chili flakes (optional)
- Black pepper to taste
Instructions
- In a medium sized pot, cook onions with the oil over medium heat until they begin to go translucent.
- Add the sliced eggplant and 2 tbsp of soy sauce, and lower to a medium low heat to slowly cook. You want to caramelize the eggplant and allow them to release their moisture. If you find too much burning to the bottom or sticking, use a splash of water to deglaze the bottom. The remaining water should cook out.
- Continue cooking, stirring every 2-3 minutes to ensure your eggplant is evenly cooked through.
- Add 1/2 tsp chili flakes, black pepper (a pinch of so if using), and more soy sauce to taste.
- Cook until all eggplant has turned brown and is evenly tender and cooked through. Transfer to a bowl to serve alongside other dishes like đậu hũ kho nấm.
Video
Brennan says
1. This looks delicious. 2. Where did you get these bowls?
Lisa Le says
I think I got them from Winners/Homesense!
Rebekah says
Once or twice a month, in the past almost four (4!) years I’ve tried to replicate my favorite restaurant’s caramelized eggplant dish and this recipe comes the absolute closest! Thank you so so so much!! The eggplant “melts” but doesn’t leave that greasy feeling/taste you get from every other form of cooking it that I’ve tried… I can’t exaggerate how happy I am to have had this page pop up on my regular internet search, thank you!!!
BLG says
This recipe was so easy and made a great side dish. I made it for meal prep and I am going to have it as a side with a variety of dishes throughout the week.
Pia Vogel says
How could I add tofu to this recipe? I just returned from Vietnam and this dish was served in a restaurant but with tofu and eggplant.
Lisa Le says
Hmm you could just add fried tofu in and add extra seasonings?
Kay says
This has become one of my absolute favourite aubergine dishes since the first time I came across your recipe – so much so that I now get excited at the possibility of making this dish whenever I see Japanese aubergines at the supermarket. The aubergine has such a wonderful melt-in-your-mouth texture and it tastes like a warm hug. Thank you for sharing this recipe! :)