This Japanese Eggplant with Chicken and Thai basil stir-fry involves so many of my favorite things to eat, and it’s a very 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!
Notes on Ingredients
We call for Japanese eggplant in the recipe. Japanese eggplant is lighter in color, has thinner skin than Chinese eggplant and is, arguably, more tender than other varieties.
For this reason, this recipe calls for it, but don’t hesitate to substitute Chinese eggplant or another variety that you have locally in your market.
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 varieties 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, and instead use the dry fry method in the wok.
That said, restaurant-style eggplant dishes almost always rely on a deep or shallow fry, and 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 and with this recipe.
Whether you’re buying Japanese 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!
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 Japanese 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 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, and transfer back to the marinade bowl.
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 Japanese 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 a 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!
Japanese Eggplant with Chicken & Thai Basil
Ingredients
- 8 oz. chicken breast (225g, sliced about ¼-inch thick)
- 2 tablespoons water
- 5 tablespoons vegetable oil (plus 1 teaspoon for marinating the chicken)
- 1½ teaspoons soy sauce
- 1 teaspoon cornstarch
- 2 Japanese eggplants (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
- 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 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.
- 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 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, and transfer back to the marinade bowl.
- 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!
nutrition facts
This turned out fantastic. Only change I made was using mirin instead of the wine and I added 1 T of oyster sauce. I have never massaged chicken with water before. It worked though. Very tender.
Excellent to hear that Brian! Adding that bit of water to the chicken does make it juicy and tender ;-)
The chicken in the pictures look like much thicker than 1/4 inch.
Hi Frank, cutting the chicken isn’t an exact exact science. We just provide a guideline, but some of the pieces may be thicker. Also, the chicken tends to plump after marinating, which is what you want so the pieces are juicy! Happy Cooking!
Great recipe!! A perfect way to use our garden’s offerings: fresh Thai basil and Japanese eggplant. The flavor from the basil was on point! It was almost as good as going out to eat, and I love a good fake out take out recipe. Thanks!!
Hi Valerie, I’m so jealous of your garden even without seeing it. If you can make dishes like this one from your garden, you must be blessed with a green thumb!
i love this recipe, not only because it’s delicious, but because it taught me how to stir fry (1) eggplant with minimal oil and so it doesn’t get soggy; and (2) chicken, massaged with water, so it keeps juicy and moist. there’s great building blocks here, and everywhere else on this site :)
Excellent Emily and so happy to hear you are picking up our techniques :) Happy cooking!
Amazing recipe! I make it all the time.
I agree Vincent. And it is eggplant and Thai basil season!
What’s the Chinese name on this one? Is it 茄子鸡？
Hi Georgia, Qie zi ji (pinyin of what you wrote) is actually “eggplant chicken” and is a rather generic name. :) This dish is a fusion dish, because it uses Thai basil and Japanese or Chinese eggplant. I would say it is a special “茄子鸡.” Happy cooking!
This recipe has become a favorite in our house. We have made it several times and have loved it every time!
Hi Jillian, I am waiting for the Thai basil and eggplant from our garden to make this again too!
Okay, not to a braggart but I can cook, well. This recipe is spectacular. I chose to fry some firm tofu and go vegetarian with it for my daughter and I, she’s 32. It was so good we couldn’t stop eating it, period! I had a small piece of fish on the side as well with some white wine. Can’t say enough how refreshing and tasty this was and how easy to prepare and impress! Thank you!!
YES 10 STARS
Hurray Mark! Thanks and glad you enjoyed it!
Did you treat the tofu similarly to the chicken (marinade and order of cooking) or did you do something different?
Loved this. We have cooked many of your recipes and have been blown away. If this is your original recipe, I hail you as a master, we’ll be cooking this again and again.
Hi Lorna, So glad you loved this one. It is an original recipe and something we actually cook quite often and feel like it is better or at least equivalent in quality and taste to Thai restaurant dishes. Happy cooking!
Can I make this in advance and freeze it? Do you think the eggplant will freeze well? PS – I’ve made this many times before and it’s my favorite!! I’ve just never froze it before.
Hi Sofia, I think this dish should freeze just fine!