Pan-Roasted Eggplant With Peanut-Chile Sauce

To avoid the two-pan deal, brush eggplant slices with olive oil on both sides and cook in your panini grill. Less mess and no turning. You can make the sauce while they are cooking. The recipe says to peel strips lengthwise. I think the peeling method here is purely for aesthetics. Leaving the skin on gives the eggplant slices more intergrity. This recipe sounds yummy.

Honestly I skipped the whole double pan nonsense and just roasted the eggplant slices in the oven - I'm sure it would've been marginally better, but is it worth all the work? Sauce was delicious

Looks great but the picture clearly has the skin on yet the recipe calls for you to peel it off???

I made this exactly as written, except for the technique - I used a Cuisinart Griddler, smooth plates, temp set to high. It was so easy - just make sure to cut the eggplant thick enough because they will shrink up tremendously. That sauce is off-the-hook delicious. It's more of a saucy garnish (I used a full 1/2 cup peanuts). I was able to get my eggplant crisp by the last batch, but honestly it doesn't matter b/c it really just a vehicle for that amazing sauce!

This is delicious - "you could serve this to guests!" - my husband's highest compliment. Next time I will slice the eggplant thinner, brush with oil, and roast at 425 as I usually do, and make the sauce in the meantime. I used 2 Tbsp Chile paste and 1 Tbsp of Woodberry Kitchen's Snake Oil. And yes, we need all the sauce - why ever not?!

I don't get the whole two-pan-aluminum-foil situation. I've made this twice and just pan fried the eggplant (and added pressed tofu). Sear the eggplant well and don't be afraid to add some burn to the peanuts, too. Reminds me of a Uighur dish I had in China - spicy, earthy, and wonderful!

This is fantastic. I didn’t bother peeling or sautéing the eggplant though and the sauce made only enough for one eggplant so I’d double it for two. I also fried half the scallions for 30 seconds in the ginger at the end. This could be served at room temperature, a fabulous part of a meze selection. Make this!

Loved this recipe! I roasted the eggplant instead of pan frying - so much easier and then you can prep the rest while it's cooking. I also did rounds with the skin on. For the sauce, I used Mother-in-Law's gochujang garlic chili sauce, micro-planed the ginger instead of julienning, and added the juice of half a lime. Next time I might use a little less olive oil as well, but overall this was a major hit in our house!

Added the juice of one lime to the sauce, which made it zing. Eggplants were more mushy than crispy, but great with the flavor of the sauce. Definitely a repeat!

There is n need for any oil or even pressing one skillet on top.. too much for too little. On a cast iron ribbed grill grill sliced 1/2-3/4 inch thick, peeled striped eggplants 20 min flipping half way, dry, no salt, no pepper, no oil... you get get charred smoky results. Drizzle with olive oil add seasnings andgarnish : italian parmigiana baked with tomatoes, feta or mozzarella, basil, breadrumbs; Miso glaze, chile soya honey, ginger; or the recipe or whatever gets your fancy. Enjoy, Atul

I did the double pan thing and found it better than roasting. The eggplant came out more tender then when roasting. One trick I'd like to share is that I laid the eggplant out on a clean kitchen towel. I salted the slices, let rest for 10, flipped them over, salted the other side and let them rest for another 10. I blotted them on the towel, brushed one side with olive oil and placed them in the hot pan. I quickly brushed the other side before putting the other pan on top. Worked great!

Should you salt both sides of the eggplant? The salting produced a lot of moisture which was helpful when flipping. (There were no instructions to dry with paper towels.) Peeling the eggplant makes it easier to eat. Make sure to keep the slices on the thicker side. The sauce is very thick and more like a topping. It wasn't as hot as expected and not very distinctive except for the peanuts. Would serve with an asian salad. Definitely will make again.

I rarely follow recipes exactly. I use recipes more as inspiration rather than instruction in my dotage, however, this time I did. I started laughing when I couldn’t get the weighed down eggplants to brown Instead effectively boiling them! I have been cooking S. East Asian food for over 30 years so I was surprised that this recipe using bottled chili paste took much longer than 30 minutes to prep and cook. A delicious salad regardless of technique. Substitute Japanese eggplants-no salting.

Did this crazy thing and made it exactly as instructed. Super easy. Turned out beautiful.

I subbed Korean Gochugang paste because it was all i had in the house and I loved the peanut sauce but it was a bit too spicy for me so I added a little bit of sugar to tame it. I was too lazy to do the double pan roasting method and just fried the eggplant until crispy. I am always looking for gluten, meat and dairy free dishes which are interesting without seeming to lack something.