Eggplant Sauce #1

1 large eggplant

3-4 tablespoons soy sauce

2 tablespoons canola oil

2 large cloves garlic

~1/4 cup sweet chili sauce

1 tablespoon cayenne pepper powder

2 tablespoons rice vinegar

1/2 cup coconut milk

Peel eggplant.  Slice into ~1cm medallions.  Lay out medallions on clean surface, and cover liberally with salt on both sides.  Let liquid drain out for about half an hour.  Clean salt off with cold water, and chop into ~1cm cubes.  Chop or crush garlic.

In a large pan on medium heat fry eggplant and garlic with canola oil.  Stirring occasionally, fry for five minutes before adding a tablespoon of each of the following: soy sauce, sweet chili sauce, rice vinegar.  Mix in and then cover.  Every few minutes scrape and stir to keep eggplant from burning, keeping pan covered when possible.  Remove from heat once eggplant is thoroughly soft.

Transfer eggplant into food processor and add coconut milk and cayenne pepper powder, as well as remaining soy sauce, sweet chili sauce, and rice vinegar.  Puree.  Taste it, and add more soy sauce, sweet chili sauce, cayenne pepper powder, and rice vinegar until it tastes strongly enough.

This is to go with rice or rice noodles, analogous to peanut sauce, I guess.

Rather than cayenne pepper powder, sriracha or some other potent hot sauce would probably taste better.  I'm not so sure that coconut milk goes so well with eggplant.  Maybe some other liquid should be used to thin the sauce to the right consistency, perhaps even a little water.  After all the eggplant fried in oil is rich enough.  Next, I think, is an eggplant-cream sauce for pasta.