Air-Fried Eggplant in Spicy Garlic Sauce with Jicama
A little sweet, a little spicy, and a whole lot of garlicky, this air-fried eggplant in spicy garlic sauce is sautéed with sweet bell peppers, crunchy jicama and spicy ginger. This is a fresher, brighter, healthier take on the restaurant-style eggplant in spicy garlic sauce, that maintains all the flavor of the original, while adding a couple more ingredients to make the flavors lighter. The eggplant is made in an air-fryer, which means less oil (and therefore healthier!) for a crispy fried eggplant. With a sticky garlic sauce, this air-fried eggplant will give you all the take-out happiness without the takeout cost.
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Eating Vegan in Chinese Restaurants
While I LOVE spicy eggplant in garlic sauce, I almost never get it when I eat out at a Chinese restaurant- the reason? Tofu. I find it really hard not to pick a crispy fried tofu option over any of the vegetable offerings- not even because I end up liking the tofu better, but simply because I’m unwilling to get that crispy deep-fried tofu quality at home. It’s only when I’m ordering a few different things that I ever stray from tofu-land, which actually happened a couple days ago, causing me to remember how much I loved this eggplant dish. A few tips for eating out at Chinese restaurants-
- Look out for egg! In soups, noodles, and dumpling wrappers, egg makes a frequent appearance. Always ask about egg in your food- in noodle dishes using egg noodles, they may allow you to substitute out the more vegan-friendly rice noodles.
- Your broth may or may not be vegan. Most cuisines, including Chinese, use chicken stock as a staple in soup making. It may also have a fish stock, so be careful when ordering soup.
- Oyster sauce and fish sauce may be hidden in many dishes. While fish sauce is more common in Thai food, it still shows up in Chinese food too. More commonly, dishes will contain oyster sauce- if the dish you are ordering comes in a brown sauce, it’s quite possible it contains oyster sauce.
On the whole, Chinese food is vegetable heavy, and can be very vegan-friendly. But if you don’t want to risk it, you can always do the DIY route, and make something like this air-fried eggplant in spicy garlic sauce with jicama and red peppers!
Eating Healthy for the New Year
After the holidays end, and the New Year’s resolutions kick in, it seems we all try and eat a little healthier. Now I’m not on the juice-cleanse, oil-free, only raw vegetables level of healthy, but I do try and take simple steps to make the food I’m eating a little better for me. For example, I recently got an air fryer. I try not to use it frequently, as air-fried food is healthier than deep-fried food, but certainly not as healthy as not-fried food, but when I’m in the need of something crispy, I use it as a healthier option. I also added more vegetables- bell peppers, ginger, cilantro, and jicama, for added natural sweetness and fresh veg flavor.
Looking for Healthy Vegan Recipes? Try one of these!
- Chocolate Beet Muffins (Vegan, Gluten-Free, Oil-Free)
- Garlicky Lacto-Fermented Snap Peas Snack
- Vegan Millet Porridge with Persimmon and Chia
- Sesame Blistered Shishito Peppers
- Swiss Chard Recipe: Ohitashi & Japanese Pickled Stems
- Greek Goddess Vegan Quinoa Salad
Making Air-Fried Eggplant
Cooking this dish starts in the air fryer with the eggplant. It only takes about 10 minutes to cook entirely, but unless you have a very large fryer you will need to do a few batches. The rest is cooked in a large skillet, first sautéing the garlic, ginger and jalapeños, next cooking the onions and bell peppers. After that, the sauce is added and cooked to thicken- it should only take a minute or two, before the remaining ingredients are tossed in and coated. I ate this dish with brown rice, but you could choose noodles, any other grain, or simply eat it on its own.
Air-Fried Eggplant in Spicy Garlic Sauce with Jicama
Ingredients
- Ingredients
- 3 long Chinese eggplants
- 2 tsp. salt
- Spray vegetable oil
- 2 cloves of garlic, minced
- 1-inch piece of ginger, cut into matchsticks
- 1 jalapeño, diced finely
- ¼-1/2 red onion, diced finely
- 1 bell pepper, cut into small chunks
- ½ lb. jicama, cut into matchsticks
- Cilantro, chopped for garnish
- ¼ cup soy sauce
- 1 tbsp. corn starch
- 1 tbsp. garlic-chili sauce
- 1 tbsp. brown sugar
- 1 tsp. rice wine vinegar
- 1 tsp. sesame oil
- ½ cup water
Instructions
- Chop the eggplant into bite-sized pieces, and place in a bowl of water along with the two teaspoons of salt and allow to soak for 15 minutes. After it has soaked, drain and pat dry with a towel. Preheat your air fryer to 400°F (200°C) and spray the drawer with vegetable oil. Add your eggplant in a single layer (you may need multiple batches), spray with vegetable oil, and allow to fry for 10-15 minutes, taking it out once to shake and re-apply the oil. Repeat until all the eggplant is cooked.
- Add all the ingredients for the sauce into a container, whisk until integrated, and set aside. Put a little oil in a large skillet and heat. Add the garlic, ginger, and jalapeños, and sauté for 1-2 minutes before adding the onion and bell pepper. Cook for another 3 or so minutes, until the vegetables begin to soften, before pouring the sauce into the skillet. Cook while stirring, until the sauce has thickened.
- Add the jicama, and toss until completely coated in the sauce. Finally add the air-fried eggplant, and continue stirring until completely coated. Garnish with chopped cilantro, and serve with rice, noodles, or alone.
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Let’s Hear From You…
- What’s your favorite Chinese take out dish? Do you also tend to go tofu-heavy like I do?
- Air fryer- what the verdict?
- How should this air-fried eggplant in spicy garlic sauce be served- classic rice, or a different option?
Share your thoughts with us in the comments below!
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Soaking the eggplant in salt water is a new one for me – what is that trying to accomplish? Isn’t the eggplant already mostly water?
Hi Martin,
Eggplant does contain a large amount of water, and that’s actually the purpose of soaking them. The salt in the water actually draws out some of the liquid, which causes the eggplants to be a little firmer. Because of that they fry (or in this case air fry) better without getting oily or soggy. It also is supposed to draw out some of the bitterness in the eggplant, although I will say personally I’ve never found bitterness to be a problem in eggplant.