Ingredient Spotlight - Thai Eggplant

What is Thai Eggplant?  From what I determined, it's a cuter version of common purple eggplant!

I stumbled across a bag of Thai Eggplant in the produce department of my grocery store. Each no larger than a tangerine, some as small as a golf ball, these shamrock green spheres speckled with white aroused my curiosity. Do they they taste any different from regular eggplant? Is their texture the same? What color is the flesh inside?  I stopped staring at them and threw them into my basket, mentally shuffling my shopping list to include the ingredients for a traditional Thai green curry with beef.

While slicing the Thai Eggplant, I noticed that they contained more seeds than regular purple eggplant. This could be due to their small size. The flavor is exactly the same as purple eggplant, and so is the texture. My conclusion? Unless you want to add visual interest to a dish, there is no need to seek out these eggplants when you could simply use the easier to locate and easier to prepare common purple eggplant. That being said, here is the recipe I created with my Thai Eggplant.

Thai Eggplants in Beef Curry

1 T. coconut oil (can substitute vegetable oil)
1 lb. beef sirloin, sliced into 1/4" strips (also known as "stir-fry beef")
1 shallot or small onion, minced
2 lb. Thai eggplants, quartered or cut into eighths (or substitute diced purple eggplant)
1 can coconut milk
1t - 2T. Thai green curry paste (depends on how spicy you like it)
1t. grated fresh ginger
2 T. soy sauce
1 T. fish sauce
black pepper to taste
generous handful shredded basil leaves
red chile flakes (optional)

cooked rice noodles

Heat the coconut oil over medium-high heat in a large, heavy-bottomed pan. When heated through, add the beef strips and brown for 2-3 minutes. Add the shallot or onion and saute for another minute or so, or until the shallot is translucent. Now, add the eggplant and stir a few times to combine.

Add the coconut milk, curry paste, ginger, soy sauce, fish sauce, and pepper. Stir to combine, reduce heat to low, and simmer for about 10 minutes, or until the eggplant has softened and the sauce has thickened up a bit.

Spoon the curry over cooked rice noodles, and garnish each dish with shredded basil, and chile flakes if you prefer a little extra heat.