Filipino Eggplant Adobo

Spencer Lengsfield
by Spencer Lengsfield
4 Servings
35 min

Adobo is a Filipino dish of meat, veggies, or seafood cooked in a marinade of vinegar, soy sauce, bay leaves, garlic, and peppercorns. It is often made with chicken or pork, but I’ve used eggplant for this vegan version and it’s so flavourful! I created this dish as part of a Filipino spread, which also included Chicken Inasal, a Filipino barbecue chicken dish, but the eggplant was the star of the show. This recipe would also work really well with the addition of pork belly or ground pork.


Enjoy this dish with some fluffy white rice and some extra adobo sauce.

Recipe details
  • 4  Servings
  • Prep time: 20 Minutes Cook time: 15 Minutes Total time: 35 min
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Ingredients

  • 4 Eggplants, sliced into chunky strips
  • 150ml Soy sauce
  • 200ml Cider vinegar
  • 400ml Water
  • 4 Bay leaves
  • 6 Whole peeled garlic cloves
  • 2 Dried chipotle chillies (optional)
  • A handful of whole peppercorns
  • Salt
  • 2 Spring onions, sliced
Instructions

Start by slicing your eggplant, then salting liberally. Leave to sit for 20-30 minutes until the moisture has been drawn out, then pat dry with a paper towel.
In a large pan on medium/high, add a good splash of oil then brown your eggplant in batches. Remove and place on a plate lined with a paper towel. You will need to add more oil in between batches, as the eggplant soaks it up quickly.
Once everything has been browned, turn off the heat. Add your soy sauce, water, cider vinegar, bay leaves, garlic cloves, chillies, and peppercorns. Bring to a simmer, add your browned eggplant, then reduce to medium/low. Leave to cook for around 15 minutes, until the eggplant is deep brown and tender.
The sauce won't reduce much because of the water, so you can remove the eggplant after 15 minutes and leave the sauce to reduce if you like.
Pile up the eggplant on a plate with a good spoonful of the adobo liquid, then garnish with your sliced spring onions. Enjoy!
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