Roasted Shrimp Stuffed Chinese Eggplant

Chinese Shrimp Stuffed Eggplant is a popular dim sum treat, which is typically fried in copious amounts of oil. Eggplant has a propensity to sop up a lot of oil, so this baked version keeps all the delicious Asian flavors intact, without the grease.

Plus, this is roasted on parchment in the oven, so cleanup is a snap.

I was inspired to create this dish because February rings in the Chinese New Year. 2024 is Year of the Dragon, which signifies power, luck, and resilience in Chinese culture. I have been enjoying all the wonderful dim sum posts, but wanted to create something higher in protein and fiber that was not fried, but still packed a delicious punch of flavors. The fifteenth, and final day of Chinese New Year is called the Lantern Festival and falls on Saturday February 24^th, which signifies gatherings of families to enjoy traditional meals and dim sum, but you can enjoy this dish anytime of year!

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Tina Marinaccio (@tina_integrative_dietitian)

Roasted Shrimp Stuffed Chinese Eggplant

Ingredients

½ pound wild caught shrimp, peeled and deveined

1 Chinese eggplant

1 tbsp neutral high smoke point oil, like avocado oil

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 tbsp fresh ginger, grated

½ tsp pickled chili (optional)

2 tbsp tamari

1 tbsp mirin

1 tbsp rice vinegar

1 tsp cornstarch or rice flour

Garnish – 2 scallions thinly sliced and 2 tbsp toasted sesame oil or neutral oil of choice

How to Make Roasted Shrimp Stuffed Chinese Eggplant

-Preheat oven to 350 degrees convection roast

-Lightly pulse shrimp in a mini chopper or food processor, or dice into very small pieces

-Place shrimp into a mixing bowl, add garlic, ginger, chili, tamari, mirin, rice vinegar, and corn starch or rice flour

-Fold ingredients to combine, cover, and refrigerate for 30 minutes

-Meanwhile, cut eggplant lengthwise, and score the flesh

-Lightly oil eggplant flesh, and place cut side down on parchment

-Roast eggplant until it softens, about 15 minutes

-Remove eggplant from oven, and turn flesh side up

-Stuff each eggplant half with half of shrimp mixture

-Top eggplant halves with half of the scallions, reserving other half for before serving

-Sprinkle eggplant halves each with 1 tbsp sesame oil or neutral oil of choice

-Return to oven until shrimp achieves a minimum internal temperature of 145 degrees F, about 20 minutes

-Garnish with remaining scallions, and serve

-Serves two if served as an eggplant shrimp boat as is, or this can be sliced lengthwise into 2” pieces for dim sum