Whipped up in under 10 minutes, this healthy and flavoursome Korean steam eggplant side dish is calling your name! Gaji namul is a popular Korean side dish, and it’s easy to see why. Lip smackingly delicious!
Chop the whole sprig of scallion (spring onion)or green onion.
Mince enough garlic to yield 1 tsp or buy some Korean garlic mince in a jar.
In a mixing bowl, add the steamed eggplant, scallion (spring onion) or green onion, minced garlic, soy sauce, sesame oil, sesame seeds, gochugaru and sugar. Gently mix until well combined.
Serve.
Video
Notes
If you can’t find Korean eggplants or Asian eggplants, just select smaller globe eggplants. Try to avoid those overly massive ones, as we want more skin on the strips than none.
You can use either scallions or green onions. Most Korean recipes do prefer green onions, although I do find that sometimes the bulb is too big, which makes the dish overly pungent.
You can mince fresh garlic or get a jar of Korean minced garlic from the supermarket. Especially handy if you intend to make a whole bunch of different Korean side dishes.
For a gluten free recipe, use tamari instead of soy sauce.
If you don’t have gochugaru or don’t wish to invest in a large bottle, you can substitute gochugaru with a mix of cayenne pepper and smoked paprika. As it is only a small amount, the taste will be ok albeit not quite the same. This is pretty close, though!