Super Easy Grilled Asian Eggplant

5 from 3 votes

Super easy grilled Asian eggplant recipe is vegan and bursting with flavor from the ginger and chili glaze that is going to wow your family and guests.

Prep Time10

Cook Time20

Total Time20

Course: Sides

Cuisine: Chinese

Servings:

Calories: 94kcal

Author: HWC Magazine

Ingredients

Glaze Topping

3 tablespoon tamari (soy sauce)
1 teaspoon sesame oil
1 inch ginger
knob peeled and grated fresh (½ teaspoon dried ground)
1 chili
small chili to taste or heat tolerance or can use 1 tablespoon finely chopped red pepper if you like it mild
1 clove garlic
peeled and chopped finely
2 teaspoon maple syrup or to taste (or can use 1 teaspoon of sugar alternative of choice)

Grilled Asian Eggplants

3 Asian eggplants
washed (Don't cut in half until just ready to put on grill)
2 tablespoon olive oil
or can use coconut oil or oil of choice
1 teaspoon sesame seeds
toasted
cilantro garnish (optional)

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

Preheat grill (if using outdoor grill). If using indoor grill pan, spray pan lightly with spray oil.
Make your glaze topping: In a small bowl, combine tamari (soy)sauce, sesame oil, ginger, chili to taste or just some chopped red bell pepper for color, garlic and maple syrup. Stir to combine.
Slice your Asian eggplants lengthwise (or can use Western eggplants but you will have to cut them 3-4 times lengthwise so they cook evenly). Brush olive oil on both sides of the eggplants.
Grill the eggplants cut side or flesh side down for about 3-5 minutes on a low-medium heat with the lid closed depending on how large your Asian eggplants are. If you are using a grill pan, cut the eggplants so they can fit lengthwise in the pan, spray lightly will oil and find a lid that can cover your grill pan at least partway. You will know when your eggplant are ready to be turned over as the skins will turn from a dark purple to a light brown and when you grab them with the tongs they are easy to squeeze.
Turn your eggplants over so that the cut side is facing up. You should have nice grill marks on your eggplant. Spoon over the glaze topping on top of each eggplant. Close the lid of your grill and cook for another 3-5 minutes depending on the size of your eggplants. Remove your Asian eggplants from the grill.
Garnish with toasted sesame seeds and cilantro and enjoy.

Notes

1) Eggplants are like sponges so they absorb everything, especially oil. We wait to brush the olive oil on the Asian eggplants until we are just about ready to throw them on the grill. Don't use too much oil as you don't want greasy eggplants, you just don't want your eggplant to stick on the grill.

2) Use a medium-low heat to grill the Asian eggplants as you want them to roast on the inside without burning on the outside.

3) We close the lid of our gas grill while cooking as it helps cook the Asian eggplants faster without burning. If you are doing this on a grill pan, you can also use a lid to partially cover to help distribute the heat evenly.

4) You will want to grill the Asian eggplants with the cut side down first for about 4-5 minutes depending on how large they are. Don't leave your grill unattended as they can go from perfectly cooked to incinerate in a nano second. The way that you will know it is ready to flip your Asian eggplant on the grill is the skin will turn from a deep purple to a light brown color and when you grab one with your grilling tongs they are soft and pliable.

5) You want to make sure that your grilled Asian eggplant is soft and pliable along the entire vegetable as there is nothing worse than biting into a raw eggplant. Have you ever tried to eat raw eggplant? If you have, you will never want to do that again.

6) When we flip the Asian plants over to the other side with the skin side up then we put the glaze on to allow it to penetrate the grilled Asian eggplant in the last few minutes of cooking.

Nutrition