while we were in new brunswick, we ended up going to asian food mart on rt 27, home of the seaweed crackers pv loves so much that we cannot find anywhere else. asian eggplants were on sale and i couldn't resist. they also have a filipino food aisle, so along with picking up mama sita packets for the shanghai lumpia (for my mom), i got me some coconut vinegar.

we got home and i assessed what we had in the pantry: mushroom dark soy sauce, garlic, onions. hmmm...ADOBO! except instead of making the normal meat adobo (pork or chicken), i made the vegetarian eggplant adobo.

i normally don't make eggplant, or really, any vegetarian adobo. i think the last time may have been 4 years ago, when i eyeballed the measurements yet it turned out really good. this time around, i made up the measurements, considering the 2:1 vinegar to soy ratio. i think it turned out pretty darn good. the soy sauce was definitely mushroomy, which resulted in a deep flavored adobo. i have yet to determine if the coconut vinegar provided a significant difference to the regular dark soy sauce i normally use. i'll have to keep experimenting.

eggplant adobo
5 medium sized eggplants, chopped into 1-1.5" pieces
1 head garlic, minced
1 small onion, finely diced
1/2 cup coconut vinegar
1/4 cup dark soy sauce (i used the mushroom flavored kind)
ground black pepper
bay leaves
1/2 cup water (or more)

bring garlic, onion, vinegar, soy sauce, pepper, and bay leaves to a boil. let simmer for about 5-10 minutes. add eggplant and water, mix, cover and lower heat to low. after 10-15 minutes, mix the eggplant, making sure that all eggplant gets exposure to soy/garlic/vinegar liquid. if it starts to burn or get dried out, add more water. cover and cook on low for another 15 min or so, or until eggplant is cooked through and tender.

serve over white rice.

Labels: cooking, filipino, vegetarian