This is the meal you can cook when you don’t have time to cook! Delicious beef, chunks of eggplant, chilli and fragrant Thai basil come together to make a quick and easy midweek meal that you’ll want to make again and again. Serve with steamed rice to round out the dish.
2 tbsp vegetable oil
4 garlic cloves, roughly chopped
2 large mild chillies, sliced
2-3 bird’s eye chillies, sliced (optional)
500g (1 lb) beef mince
1 eggplant (about 400g/14oz), cut into roughly 3cm (1 inch) long pieces
2 tbsp fish sauce
4 tbsp oyster sauce
1 cup Thai basil leaves*
steamed rice to serve
Heat the oil in a wok or large frying pan over high heat. Add the garlic and stir-fry for 1 minute. Add the beef and stir-fry until almost cooked. Add the eggplant and chilli and stir-fry for another minute. Stir through the fish sauce and oyster sauce. Cover with a lid for 2-3 minutes to allow the eggplant to steam and soften. Remove the lid and add the basil leaves and toss to wilt the leaves. Remove from heat and serve with steamed rice.
Notes:
– Thai basil is available from some major supermarkets or an Asian grocer. Substitute regular basil if unavailable.
