Quick Thai Stir-fried Brinjal with Minced Meat

The minute I ate Makheua Yao Pad Tao Jiao (Thai stir-fried brinjal with minced meat), I knew I wanted to recreate it at home.

But first, I had to identify the secret ingredient that was the key to its unforgettable taste.

I first ate it at The Fisher by Krua Thai, a new-ish Thai restaurant on Transfer Road, Penang.

To be honest, I only ordered it because we needed some vegetables. And this had brinjal and basil leaves, my two favourite non-meat foods in the world.

My Thai stir-fried brinjal dish arrived looking rather ordinary, I must say. The purple wasn’t too pronounced (sign of overcooking or braising too long), the meat was rather colourless (opposed to the dark brown that’s the sign of caramelisation) the whole thing had a plain brownish monochrome. Not terribly appetizing to the eye.

Then I took a bite and gasped.

Although the minced chicken lacked colour, it was a flavour bomb that matched beautifully with the soft brinjal, the subtle herbiness of basil and that sauce…

Oh man that sauce. What the h*** was in it?

I was sure it had fish sauce and oyster sauce. But there was also something more savoury. A hint of funk. Could it be t*****..?

So I Googled. And Googled. And Googled. None of the ingredient lists contained that X factor (I’ll reveal it in a minute).

Then finally, I stumbled upon an article on Serious Eats. Bingo!

Yes, Serious Eats is a website written by kwailos but I believe my tongue more than I believe publicly-shared written recipes, so I decided to go with my gut.

What is that X factor?

Taucheo. Tauchu. Taucu. Fermented black soybean paste.

This popular Chinese condiment lends a complexity, and yes, funk, to dishes that has greater depth than soy sauce, fish sauce or any of those sauces. Because of that funk, you only use it sparingly.

I know. Not the kind of ingredient one would associate with a Thai dish, right? Maybe the dish has been localised. Hokkien-ised. Penang-ised.

Perhaps it might not even be authentic.

Who cares when it tastes so good?

One Key Step in my Recipe That Isn’t Conventional

I learned this neat trick from Nagi of Recipetineats a while back: how to cook brinjal with as little oil as possible.

Her method is genius. You panfry the brinjal flesh side down, then add a bit of water and cover with a lid, and steam it for 2-3 minutes gyoza-style. Voila!

You get brinjal that’s completely cooked inside and has a bit of caramelisation outside, WITHOUT drowning it in a bath of oil.

Read on for the recipe!

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