Beef & Eggplan

Click to Enlarge	Beef & Eggplant Laos
	Serves Effort: Sched: DoAhead:	2 main ** 1/2 hr Some		This is a simple (and simple to make) yet satisfying dish. In Southeast Asia it would be made from buffalo so you needn't splurge on expensive tender beef for this dish. Using moderate heat chilis and seeding them before chopping makes this dish not at all hot, but spice it up if you like. This is a fairly dry recipe so good to serve along side something with sauce.

10
12
2
3
2
2
20

oz
oz
cl
lrg
T
T

Beef
Eggplant (1)
Garlic
Chillis (2)
Fish Sauce (3)
Oil
Thai Basil Leaves

Prep

Mince BEEF small.
Cut EGGPLANT into chunks about 3/4" thick and 1-1/2 inch or so on a side. Hold in cold water with a little citric acid added to prevent discoloration.
Chop GARLIC fine.
Seed CHILIS and chop fine.
Pull BASIL LEAVES from stems and put them in a bowl of cold water to soak.

Run

In a wok or roomy sauté pan heat oil and fry Garlic until it shows just a touch of color, then stir in Chilis and fry stirring for a couple of minutes
Add the Beef and fry stirring until it has lost all its raw color, then stir in the Eggplant and FISH SAUCE. Continue to fry stirring until the eggplant is just cooked through - don't overdo it.
Drain Basil Leave and quickly stir them in. Turn off heat.
Serve immediately with plenty of jasmine rice.

NOTES:

Eggplant: would properly be green Thai eggplants but if you don't have those Indian eggplants or any of the long narrow varieties will do fine.
Chilis: can be green or red or a mix. I use the easily available Fresno and Jalapeno - see our page Chili Page for more information.
U.S. measure: t=teaspoon, T=Tablespoon, c=cup, qt=quart, oz=ounce, #=pound, cl=clove in=inch
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