Eggplant sidedish

Gaji-namul 가지나물

Gaji-namul is a simple, delicious, everyday Korean side dish, meant to be eaten with other side dishes and rice.

It’s one of my favorites. I love the fresh taste, soft texture, and the beautiful vibrant purple color of the dish on the table. It’s refreshing and goes well with oilier items to offset their texture and taste. I never get tired of it!

If you are a vegetarian, replace the fish sauce with soy sauce.

Ingredients

(serves 4):

1 pound of Korean eggplants (3-4 eggplants), caps removed and washed
3 garlic cloves, minced
2 green onions, chopped
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 teaspoon fish sauce
1 teaspoon hot pepper flakes
2 teaspoons sesame oil
1 tablespoon sesame seeds, crushed

Directions

Prep your steamer by adding 2 cups of water to it. Set heat to medium-high for it to boil, it shoud take about 5 minutes.
Meanwhile, cut eggplants crosswise into 2½ inch pieces. Cut the thicker pieces in half lengthwise.
When the water starts boiling, put the eggplants on the steamer rack and cover. Steam for 5 minutes over medium high heat.
Remove from the heat. Take out the steamed eggplant and transfer to a cutting board. Let cool for 5 to 10 minutes until you can easily handle them.
Tear each piece into bite size pieces.

Make seasoning mixture:

Combine garlic, green onion, soy sauce, fish sauce, hot pepper flakes, sesame oil in a mixing bowl.
Mix well with a wooden spoon.

Put it together & serve:

Add the steamed eggplant to the bowl and mix well by hand or with the wooden spoon.
Sprinkle with the crushed sesame seeds and serve with rice.

Posted Saturday, October 25th, 2008 at 9:32 pm.
Tagged: easy eggplant recipe, eggplant, eggplant recipe, eggplant side dish, 가지나물, gaji namul, healthy eggplant recipe, how to cook eggplant, Korean eggplant dish, Korean eggplant side dish, Korean steamed eggplant, namul, steamed eggs, vegetarian dish, vegetarian eggplant recipe

144 Comments:

Patti West Bloomfield, MI joined 7/10
Posted September 9th, 2017 at 3:37 am | # | Log in to reply.

I made this dish tonight. It is so very tasty! Now I know why this is one of your favorites, Maangchi! Thank you for sharing your recipes and your time.
Tofu888 Alhambra joined 8/17
Posted August 31st, 2017 at 12:56 am | # | Log in to reply.

What kind of soy sauce you use for this ? Regular soy sauce or light or sweet soy sauce ?
- Maangchi New York City joined 8/08
  Posted August 31st, 2017 at 10:22 am | # | Log in to reply.
  
  It’s this soy sauce: https://www.maangchi.com/ingredient/soy-sauce
  Thanks for letting me know I didn’t have links in the ingredient list! I just added them now.
  - Tofu888 Alhambra joined 8/17
    Posted September 1st, 2017 at 11:08 pm | # | Log in to reply.
    
    Thank you so much
purplegdr brooklyn joined 1/17
Posted January 5th, 2017 at 2:46 pm | # | Log in to reply.

Hello! I am steaming baby bok choi now… what about using the same marinade and make “bok choi side dish”? :)
Credmiston WA joined 7/16
Posted July 21st, 2016 at 3:34 pm | # | Log in to reply.

Yum! Just made this and was dancing up and down waiting for the rice cooker to finish! Ate a huge bowl of rice and half the recipe as lunch. Happily full, mouth slightly burning just a warm slow burn from the pepper flakes, slight hum of sesame wafting around. Delicious!
WhattheNorris North Carolina joined 5/16
Posted May 20th, 2016 at 6:47 pm | # | Log in to reply.

Maangchi this is your first recipe I’ve made! I love your youtube channel and all of your videos and your personality! Thank you for all your wonderful recipes! I will buy your book soon!! I think I over-cooked my eggplant a little, but this still came out so tasty! Even my boyfriend liked it!

See full size image
- Maangchi New York City joined 8/08
  Posted May 21st, 2016 at 6:38 am | # | Log in to reply.
  
  Your gaji-namul looks juicy, soft, and delicious! Yummy!
  - WhattheNorris North Carolina joined 5/16
    Posted May 22nd, 2016 at 5:07 pm | # | Log in to reply.
    
    Thank you Maangchi!!!

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English name: Eggplant sidedish
Korean name: 가지나물
Romanized: Gaji-namul
Also Romanized as: gajinamul

Categories: appetizer, easy, side dish, spicy, vegetarian
Made with: eggplant, fish sauce, garlic, green onion, hot pepper flakes, sesame oil, sesame seeds, soy sauce,