Beef + Eggplant Stir Fry
With fish sauce, lime, and other flavorful ingredients, this stir-fry packs a punch.
An easy stir-fry that comes together in under an hour.
INGREDIENTS
For the stir-fry:
1 pound ground beef (preferably grass-fed, I used 93% lean)
1 medium eggplant, peeled and sliced into 1/2 inch cubes; placed into a bowl of salted water to prevent browning
1 red bell pepper, de-seeeded and sliced into 1/2 inch cubes
3 cloves garlic, minced
Neutral high-heat oil for cooking (I use avocado oil, but you can use vegetable, canola, etc.)
For the sauce:
3 tbsp. fish sauce (Red Boat has a great one)
1.5 tbsp. soy sauce or tamari
2 tbsp. agave or honey
Juice from 1/2 of a lime (about 1 tbsp.)
To serve:
Green onions, sliced thinly on a bias
Cilantro sprigs
Lime wedges
Thinly sliced english cucumber, cut on a bias
Steamed white rice
TOOLS
Medium-sized skillet, wok, or frying pan
Wooden/turner spatula
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INSTRUCTIONS
Combine the sauce ingredients in a small bowl. Set aside.
Heat the skillet (or pan of choice) over medium heat. Once hot, add a thin layer of neutral oil —about 1 tbsp.— to the bottom of the pan. Brown the ground beef in batches by pinching off small bits of meat and scattering them around the pan, leaving space in between. Stir every minute or so, allowing the meat to take on some color. Once the meat is browned and just cooked through, place into a bowl and set aside.
Drain the eggplant cubes and pat dry. Using the same pan on medium-high heat, add another thin layer of neutral oil. Toss in the cubed eggplant and red bell pepper and sauté for 10-15 minutes until the vegetables become tender and take on some color. Eggplant is very absorbent, so you can drizzle in more oil throughout the cooking process as necessary.
Add the minced garlic to the vegetables and sauté for another minute, then toss in the browned ground beef to reheat.
Remove the pan from the heat and add in the sauce. Because of the sugar in the sauce and the residual heat, the sauce should bubble up and cling to the stir-fried meat and vegetable mixture within a couple seconds.
Serve with steamed white rice, and garnish as desired with green onions, cilantro, lime wedges, and cucumber slices.