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Eggplant With Smoky Green Onion Oil

Sliced eggplant with green onion on a plate
Photo by Aubrie Pick

I typically roast whole eggplant on the stove top or an outdoor grill, remove the charred skin, and serve the soft, slightly smoky flesh with green onion oil and a dipping sauce of fish sauce and garlic, a Vietnamese classic called cà tím nướng mỡ hành. When I learned that eggplant skin is loaded with antioxidants, I began thinking about how I could tweak the popular side dish to retain the skin.

Surprisingly, microwaving the entire eggplant proved to be the best way to effortlessly and evenly cook the purple orbs to a wonderful plush texture and sweet flavor. The skin is chewy-tender, and very pleasant to eat. See the Cooks' Notes below for a stove-top steamer method. To season with delicate sweet smokiness, I made a rich green onion topping with garlic, fish sauce, and Spanish smoked paprika (sold in the spice aisle of many markets). The result is a new rendition that’s easy, healthful, and delicious in its own right

This recipe was excerpted from 'Vietnamese Food Any Day' by Andrea Nguyen. Buy the full book on Amazon. See more of our favorite recipes from Andrea Nguyen →

What you’ll need

Cooks' Note

Select eggplants that feel solid and heavy. The skin should be smooth, glossy, and mostly blemish-free. Instead of one medium eggplant (visualize a softball with a baseball on top), use two 10-ounce ones (a tennis ball topped by a racquetball). The microwave and steam cooking times (following) are roughly the same for both sizes. Regular grocery-store eggplants are called for here, but try other kinds, such as slender Chinese eggplants; you need roughly one pound total. Summer is peak eggplant season.

You can cook the eggplant and sauce up to 2 days in advance, cover, and refrigerate. Return to room temperature before using; drain and warm the eggplant slightly before serving.

To steam an eggplant, trim off the stem, then cut the eggplant lengthwise into pieces a good ½ inch thick. In batches, cut-side down, steam in a basket or rack set over boiling water for about 12 minutes, until soft and cooked through. Add water to the pot as needed

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