Stuffed Eggplant and Bamboo Shoot Curry

This was our last Burmese meal and I'm actually eating the leftovers right now for lunch! It was better fresh...

 Stuffed Eggplant

2 tbsps oil

2 tbsps minced onion

1 clove garlic, minced

2 dried chilies, soaked and minced

1/4 tsp tumeric powder

1 tsp shrimp paste

3 tbsps dried shrimp, soaked, and blended to a powdery "fluff." Those are the words of the cookbook, not mine. We don't have a blender, we have a Vitamix, so it was hard to get the shrimp fluffy because the Vitamix is a hulk blender. Mine was more chunky than fluffy.

1/2 tsp salt

2-3 Asian eggplants

1/2 cup water. I ended up using a full cup.

Heat the oil and fry the onion, garlic, and chilies. Stir in the tumeric  powder and shrimp paste. Add the dried shrimp, salt, and fry for another 2 minutes. Set aside. Remove the stem from the eggplant and cut to where you have four wedges that are still attached to the tip. I did it backwards because I apparently can't read so my wedges were attached to the stem...

Stuff the eggplant with the paste and transfer to the pan. Add water, bring to a boil, reduce heat, and cook for 25-30 minutes. Spoon the liquid over the eggplants and turn occasionally. 

Bamboo Shoot Curry

1/3 cup oil

3 tbsps ground onion

1/2 tsp ground ginger

1 clove garlic, ground. I took all these "ground" ingredients to mean "powder"

1/4 tsp tumeric powder

1 tbsp fish sauce

1 tomato, diced

1 tsp shrimp paste

1/4 cup dried shrimp

1 tbsp chili flakes

2 cups bamboo shoots, sliced. Drained if you're using canned, which I did.

1 cup water

1/2 tsp salt

2 whole bird's eye chilies, scored. I didn't use this.

Heat the oil and stir fry the onion, ginger, garlic, and tumeric powders. Add the fish sauce, tomato, shrimp paste, dried shrimp, and chili flakes. Stir fry for 5 minutes. Add the bamboo shoots, water, salt, and whole chilies. Cover and bring to a boil, reduce heat, and simmer for 15 minutes.

I served this with some basmati rice and some kale from our garden. #humblebrag. Kale is actually one of the few things I've managed to keep alive. It's more a testament to kale's hardiness than to my gardening skills. I mean, it doesn't stop me from mentioning that the kale we eat is fresh from our garden but let's be honest, I have little to nothing to do with it.

This meal was spicy; James even said so and James likes spicy. I'm a little more sensitive to spicy food but luckily this was the kind of spiciness that fades quickly and doesn't burn your lips and tongue to where you can't enjoy the meal. I hate that kind of spiciness. You can definitely taste the shrimp as well and the little dried suckers were a little chewy. We didn't bother serving this to the girls because of the spice but they wouldn't have liked it anyway.

My favorite part of Burmese week was that the meals were quick. Like I mentioned in a previous post, I was able to cook and chat with the family at the same time. Dinner was over quickly so we had more time to hang out as a family before starting the nighttime routine of baths and getting ready for school the next day. I guess what I'm saying is that Burmese cooking is family friendly. Except for the part where my girls wouldn't eat it...