Szechuan Spicy Eggplant with Ground Turkey

I’ll be completely honest – I don’t seem to follow the trend of most food bloggers who have extensive lists of things they’re planning on cooking next. I do have a massive, extremely organized bundle of recipes that look tasty, but when it comes down to it on Saturday mornings I tend to cook whatever shiny thing has caught my fancy at the moment.

Call me the magpie chef if you well.

In any case, I saw this gorgeous graffiti eggplant at the supermarket one Saturday morning and figured I’d buy it and figure out what to make with it when I got home. I vaguely remember my mother making a dish with ground pork, eggplant, and tofu so I picked up some ground turkey before I left (no, I don’t know why either. It made sense at the time). I figured I could probably make something tasty from the veggies in my fridge and the new ingredients I just picked up.

I was correct. This is a great recipe. The ingredient list may look a little ridiculously long, but I had pretty much all of it in my cupboard already. And it keeps really well – I ate it for lunch everyday for a week.

Hope you enjoy!

Szechuan Spicy Eggplant with Ground Turkey

Adapted from All Recipes 

If you don’t have fish sauce, simply add an additional teaspoon of soy sauce. The fish sauce mostly gives the dish an additional salty taste so soy sauce will work just as well.

Ingredients

1 large eggplant, diced

1 large red pepper, diced

1 large onion, diced

1 tablespoon soy sauce

1 tablespoon hoisin sauce

1/4 cup chicken stock (I used water)

1 teaspoon sriracha

1 teaspoon brown sugar

1 teaspoon honey

1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper

1 teaspoon fish sauce

1 tablespoon cornstarch

2 cloves garlic, minced

4 large green onions, finely chopped

1 tablespoon chopped fresh ginger root

1 pound ground turkey (or pork)

1/2 cup peanuts

1 tablespoon sesame oil (or vegetable oil)

Equipment

Mixing bowls, large saucepan with lid

Remove eggplant stem and cut into 1-inch cubes. Dice red pepper and onion and set aside.

In a medium bowl, combine soy sauce, chicken stock, sriracha, brown sugar, black pepper, and fish sauce. Stir together and set aside. In a separate bowl, combine cornstarch and 4 tablespoons water.

Spray large saucepan with cooking spray and heat at high. Saute garlic, half the green onions, ginger, onion, and red pepper. Stir constantly and cook until onions become translucent, about 3 to 5 minutes. Add the ground turkey and cook until browned, about 5 to 7 minutes.

Add eggplant to the pan and stir together. Pour reserved soy sauce mixture and peanuts into pan and cover, reducing heat to medium low. Simmer for 15 minutes stirring occasionally. Add the reserved cornstarch mixture and heat until thickened. Add the rest of the green onion and sesame oil just before taking off the heat.

Serve with rice.

Serves 4 to 6.