This stir-fry of Eggplant with Chicken and Thai Basil involves many of my favorite things to eat, and it’s a quick and easy meal to boot.
The fragrant combination of aromatics, including Thai basil, wakes up your taste buds.
Add a little eggplant and chicken (or omit the meat to make this vegetarian), and you have a satisfying meal after less than 15 minutes at the stove!
Note: This recipe was originally published in August 2016. We’ve since updated it with clearer instructions and metric measurements. Enjoy!
Notes on Ingredients
We call for Japanese or Chinese eggplant in this recipe. They are generally more tender than regular globe eggplants, with fewer seeds.
Japanese eggplant has darker skin (similar in color to a regular globe eggplant), while Chinese eggplant has lighter purple skin. Both are long and thinly shaped.
We have a great crop of eggplant in our garden this year, which is why we’re bringing this recipe back up from the archives!
If using eggplants with thick skin, like the regular large variety you find at your average grocery store, you can peel all or part of the skin off.
Similarly, we call for Thai basil or holy basil, but Italian Basil can also work in a pinch!
Cooking Eggplant with Less Oil
Now that we’ve gotten the finer points about eggplant and basil out of the way, we can talk about cooking eggplant.
Specifically, eggplants are little sponges that seem to absorb just as much oil as you add. For this reason, we refrain from deep frying it when we cook it at home. Instead, we use a dry fry method in the wok.
That said, restaurant-style eggplant dishes almost always rely on a deep or shallow fry. Consequently, Chinese eggplant dishes, while delicious, are often swimming in oil.
To lessen this problem, we use the dry fry method in our Chinese Eggplant with Garlic Sauce here as well in this recipe.
Whether you’re buying Japanese or Chinese eggplants from your local Asian grocery store, picking them from the garden, or using another variety you find locally, take advantage of eggplant season, and enjoy this one!
Eggplant with Thai Basil & Chicken: Recipe Instructions
In a medium bowl, massage the chicken with the water until it is completely absorbed, and add 1 teaspoon vegetable oil, 1 ½ teaspoons soy sauce, and 1 teaspoon cornstarch until well incorporated. Set aside.
For more information and preparing chicken for stir fries, see Bill’s post on Chicken velveting 101.
Heat your wok over medium-high heat and coat it with 2 tablespoons of oil.
Spread the eggplant out evenly in the wok, and let sear with the cover on the wok for 2 minutes.
Remove the cover, turn the eggplant pieces over, and pour another tablespoon of oil around the perimeter.
Cover the wok, and turn heat to medium-low for another 2 minutes until the eggplant is just tender.
Next, increase the heat to high to cook the eggplant to a golden brown color—another 2 minutes. Transfer to a plate.
Add 1 tablespoon of oil to your wok and heat until just smoking. Add the marinated chicken, and spread it around the wok.
Let it sear for 30 to 60 seconds (depending upon your burner capacity) on each side. Remove from the wok and set aside.
With the wok over high heat, add another tablespoon of oil, the garlic, the white parts of the scallions, and the Thai basil (or holy basil).
Stir-fry for 30 seconds, and add the chicken and eggplant.
Next, add the Shaoxing wine, and stir everything together.
Add the fish sauce, sugar, Thai thin soy sauce, dark soy sauce, sesame oil, and white pepper, and stir until everything is combined—about 1 minute. Next, add the green portion of the scallions.
Pour the hot chicken stock around the perimeter of the wok to deglaze it. Stir-fry until everything is well-combined, and most of the liquid has been absorbed by other ingredients. Serve with steamed jasmine rice!
Enjoy this eggplant with Thai basil and chicken while summer eggplants are abundant!
Japanese Eggplant with Chicken & Thai Basil
Ingredients
- 8 ounces chicken breast (thinly sliced)
- 2 tablespoons water
- 5 tablespoons vegetable oil (plus 1 teaspoon for marinating the chicken)
- 1½ teaspoons light soy sauce
- 1 teaspoon cornstarch
- 2 Chinese or Japanese eggplants (about 12-16 ounces/340-450g; cut on an angle into 1 1/2-inch wedges)
- 3 cloves garlic (sliced thinly)
- 3 scallions (sliced 1½ inches long on an angle, separated into white and green parts)
- 1 bunch Thai basil or holy basil (stems removed, about 1 cup loosely packed)
- 1 tablespoon Shaoxing wine (or dry sherry cooking wine)
- 2 teaspoons fish sauce
- ½ teaspoon sugar
- 1 teaspoon Thai thin soy sauce (or light soy sauce)
- 1 teaspoon dark soy sauce
- ½ teaspoon sesame oil
- ground white pepper
- ¼ cup chicken stock (hot)
Instructions
- In a medium bowl, massage the chicken with 2 tablespoons of water until it is completely absorbed, and add 1 teaspoon vegetable oil, 1 ½ teaspoons soy sauce, and 1 teaspoon cornstarch until well incorporated. Set aside.
- Heat your wok over medium-high heat and coat it with 2 tablespoons of oil. Spread the eggplant out evenly in the wok, and let sear with the cover on the wok for 2 minutes. Remove the cover, turn the eggplant pieces over, and pour another tablespoon of oil around the perimeter. Cover the wok, and turn heat to medium-low for another 2 minutes until the eggplant is just tender. Next, raise the heat to high to cook the eggplant to a golden brown color–another 2 minutes. Transfer to a plate.
- Add 1 more tablespoon of oil to your wok and heat until just smoking. Add the marinated chicken, and spread it around the wok. Let it sear for 30 to 60 seconds (depending upon your burner capacity) on each side. Remove from the wok and set aside.
- With the wok over high heat, add another tablespoon of oil, the garlic, the white parts of the scallions, and the basil. Stir fry for 30 seconds, and add the eggplant and chicken.
- Next, add the Shaoxing wine, and stir everything together. Add the fish sauce, sugar, soy sauces, sesame oil, and white pepper, and stir until everything is combined–about a minute. Next, add the green portion of the scallions.
- Pour the chicken stock around the perimeter of the wok to deglaze it. Stir fry until everything is well-combined, and most of the liquid has been absorbed by other ingredients. Serve with steamed jasmine rice!
This is wonderful I had a large crop of Japanese eggplant and my Thai basil plant is going gangbusters. Your sight is the first place I look for something to do with whatever is coming in from the garden thank you for the inspiration and sharing your recipes. Everything I have ever made following your instruction has been delicious. I am so looking forward to your cookbook.
Hi Tena, glad you are enjoying this eggplant with Thai Basil and chicken and hopefully many of our other recipes! The Nov 1st cookbook release is coming soon and we are excited too :)
When I told my husband I was going to make this eggplant dish, he gave me a concerned look. He is suspect of eggplant and he has told me before that he does not like sesame oil or fish sauce. I went ahead and made it anyway because all the ingredients sounded perfect together. I added a few other veg in case he wanted to pick around the eggplant. Well, guess what? He could not stop raving about how delicious it was! And he ate everything, even the eggplant. A few days later I asked if I would cook it again! I am so glad you and your family decided to make this website because now I can make Chinese dishes at home, just as good as (or even better) than at our local restaurants. Thanks so very much.
Hi Karin, thank you for sharing your success story! Love hearing you turned your husband around on eggplant :)