Vegan Mabo Nasu (Spicy Mapo Eggplant Stir Fry)

Mabo Nasu is a mildly spicy, flavour packed eggplant dish influenced by Chinese cuisine. If you're a fan of Mabo Tofu, you're gonna love this dish! I've also used all vegan ingredients for this recipe so it can be enjoyed by everyone who loves a bit of spice!

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Mabo Nasu

What is Mabo Nasu?

Mabo Nasu is a spicy stir fry dish made with eggplant and ground meat (usually pork). It's served in a fragrant sauce flavoured with fresh ginger, garlic and a spicy bean paste called tobanjan. It's most commonly served with rice.

My mabo nasu recipe is really a combination of mabo tofu and mabo nasu. I've taken out the pork mince and made sure to use all vegan friendly ingredients, you're gonna love it!

The origin of Mabo Nasu

Mabo Nasu is a little similar to a dish called "Yú Xiāng" (鱼香茄子), from the south western province of China, called Szechuan. Szechuan is well known for their spicy Szechuan peppers and the dishes that use them.

Yú Xiāng actually means "fish fragrant" in Chinese. This is not because it's fishy, but because it was originally cooked with a sauce meant for fish.

Despite some similarity to Yú Xiāng, Japanese Mabo Nasu is cooked and prepared in the same way as Mapo Tofu, the tofu is simply replaced with eggplant. "Nasu" (ナス) is the Japanese word for eggplant.

Although most Japanese people don't have a high tolerance for spicy food, Szechuan dishes are the most famous Chinese dishes in Japan.

Mabo Nasu became popular after Japanese companies started selling pre-made Chinese style sauces at supermarkets. These sauces are usually quite mild to suit Japanese tastes. Thanks to them, dishes like Mabo Nasu became popular and easy to make at home!

Essential Ingredients

Eggplant

With a dish called Mapo Eggplant, of course you need eggplant for this dish!

I use Japanese eggplant which is characterized by it's deep purple colour and long shape, but most kinds of eggplant work for this recipe.

It's important to leave the skin so that the eggplant pieces hold their shape when cooking.

I also soak the eggplant in cold water with a pinch of salt for 5 minutes, and then dry it with a paper towel before cooking. This helps remove any bitterness from the eggplant and also prevents it from soaking up too much oil when we fry it!

Tobanjan

One of the most important ingredients in this dish is called tobanjan (also known as la doubanjian). It’s a spicy fermented bean paste from Szechuan and it’s delicious! It's also often called chili bean paste in English.

I can't say that every tobanjan is suitable for vegetarians, but I used the "Lee Kum Kee" brand tobanjan which doesn't contain any animal products. You can see the full list of ingredients used to make their tobanjan here. (And you can purchase on Amazon here.)

Soy Meat

Although you can make this dish simply with eggplants and tofu, I wanted to create a firmer texture. That's why I decided to replace the pork mince with soy meat, also known as "texturized vegetable protein" or TVP.

The great thing about soy meat is, it's quick to cook, has a good texture and absorbs flavours really well!

I'm happy that soy meat is becoming more popular in Japan these days. There's so many recipes I wanna try!

I also add some crushed nuts for a bit of added crunch! You can use cashews, peanuts or macadamia nuts!

Check out our video for How to make Vegan Mabo Nasu

Step by step recipe

Vegan Mabo Nasu (Spicy Mapo Eggplant Stir Fry)

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• Author: Yuto Omura
• Total Time: 30 minutes
• Yield: 2 portions 1x

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Description

How to make spicy, fragrant and delicious Japanese style Mabo Nasu (Spicy Mapo Eggplant Stir Fry) Eggplants and soy meat stir fried in a tasty Chinese inspired sauce made of garlic, ginger and chili bean paste.

Suitable for vegans/vegetarians. Serves 2

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Ingredients

Scale 1x2x3x

• 2 Japanese eggplants (200g) See note
• Bowl of cold water (for soaking)
• 1 pinch salt
• 2 cloves garlic
• 1 tbsp fresh ginger
• 1 tbsp spring onion (white part)
• 2 tbsp sesame oil
• 1 tbsp tobanjan
• ½ tsp sugar
• 1 pinch black pepper
• 70g soy meat (mince style)
• 2 tbsp crushed nuts cashew or peanuts (optional)
• 1 tbsp sake
• 1 ½ tbsp soy sauce
• 300ml vegetable stock
• 2 tbsp water + 1 tsp corn starch
• 2 bowls of cooked rice
• Spring onion (green part - optional garnish)
• Chili threads (optional garnish)

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Instructions

1. First, wash your egg plants and cut off the stems. Cut them down the middle, lengthways and then cut into rough chunks.
   
   
2. Place the eggplant pieces into a bowl of cold water and add a pinch of salt. Leave to soak for 5 minutes, then drain the water and dry the eggplant with a paper towel.
   
   
3. Finely dice the garlic cloves, ginger and spring onion.
   
   
4. Crush the cashew nuts. (I used a mortar and pestle but you can cut them with a sharp knife.)
   
   
5. Heat a pan on medium and add 1 tbsp of sesame oil.
   
   
6. Once hot, add the garlic cloves, ginger and spring onion. Fry until fragrant.
   
   
7. Next, add 1 tbsp tobanjan, ½ tsp sugar and a pinch of black pepper to the pan and mix. 
   
   
8. Now add the soy meat and crushed nuts, stir fry for a few minutes.
   
   
9. Add 1 tbsp sake, 1 ½ tbsp soy sauce to the pan and mix.
   
   
10. Add the eggplant to the pan and drizzle 1 tbsp of sesame oil over the top. Stir fry until the eggplant pieces are lightly coated with the flavours from the pan and changed colour slightly.
    
    
11. Next, add 300ml of vegetable stock and bring to a boil.
    
    
12. In a small bowl, mix 2 tbsp of water and 1 tsp of cornstarch together. Pour the mixture into the pan and mix well.
    
    
13. Continue to mix on the heat until the liquid thickens and reaches the desired consistency. 
    
    
14. Sprinkle with spring onion (green part) and chili threads (optional). Serve with rice.
    
    
15. Enjoy!
    
    

Notes

Japanese eggplants are quite small, you can use American, Italian or Chinese eggplants instead, just be aware of the size difference. (You might only need 1 -1.5)

• Prep Time: 10 mins
• Cook Time: 20 mins
• Category: Vegan
• Method: Frying / Boiling
• Cuisine: Japanese / Chinese

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