Pan-grilled Eggplants with Nước Chấm (Vietnamese Sweet Sour Spicy Sauce)
Recipe by
Connie Veneracion
If you keep a jar of Vietnamese sauce in the fridge, cooking a vegetable side dish to go with meat or seafood like this pan-grilled eggplants with nước chấm is a breeze.
Prep Time 10 minutes mins
Cook Time 5 minutes mins
Total Time 15 minutes mins
Course Side Dish
Cuisine Vietnamese
Cook the eggplants
Cut off and discard the top of the eggplants. Cut each eggplant vertically into halves. Cut each half vertically into four then cut the eggplant strips into shorter pieces about two to three inches long.
Heat a frying pan and drizzle in the sesame seed oil to coat the bottom.
Spread the eggplant strips in the hot oil. Leave to sear for a minute then flip to sear the opposite side. Cook the eggplants just long enough to soften; do not allow to turn soggy. Three to four minutes of total cooking time should be enough.
Assemble the dish
Scoop out the eggplants and transfer to a platter.
Drizzle the nước chấm over the eggplants.
Sprinkle with sliced chilies and fried garlic before serving.