Here's a good easy recipe, that is different and delicious. It's great with fresh eggplant and basil. I have fresh basil because I bought a plant. Unfortunately I had to buy the eggplant at the grocery store. If there was a farmers' market nearby, I might have found eggplant there. There's a list of area farmers' markets on the upper right side of this blog.
Fried Thai basil eggplant
1 tablespoon oil
2 -3 garlic cloves, minced
1 big or 2 small eggplant cut irregular
2 chile peppers finely chopped or other hot peppers
2 tablespoons soy sauce
Cut eggplant into uniform irregular shapes. Heat oil in pan and cook garlic until lightly browned. Add eggplant, 1/2 cup water cover and simmer 5 minutes, until eggplant becomes translucent. Add more water as needed. Stir in sugar and fish or soy sauce. Turn off the heat and add the basil, stirring gently. Serve with rice.
