Thai Salad with Grilled Eggplant and Herbs Recipe
An aromatic salad made with soft grilled eggplant, fresh herbs and peanuts is a light yet bold appetizer. In Thailand, eggplant often appears in curries, but in a salad with lime and herbs it shows a completely different side – delicate, smoky and very fresh at the same time.
In Thailand’s Isan region, grilled or flame-roasted eggplant often ends up in salads with lime, chili and herbs, served alongside sticky rice and grilled meats.
This salad treats eggplant almost like a dip, but keeps clear pieces so every bite has a different texture. The smoky flavor of the charred skin is balanced by zesty lime, fresh mint and cilantro, and the crunch of peanuts, making the dish surprisingly filling for a vegetable salad.
Why this version works
- Salting and resting the eggplant helps remove bitterness and excess water.
- Hard charring gives a creamy interior and smoky flavor without a greasy, spongy texture.
- Soaking the onion in cold water keeps it crisp but takes off the harsh edge.
- The dressing is balanced: sour, salty, slightly sweet and spicy, just like in Thai salads.
Chef's tips
Give the eggplant a really strong heat source before grilling – if the pan is too cool, it will steam and soak up oil instead of charring. The ideal moment to pull it off is when the skin is deeply wrinkled and the inside almost collapses when you press it lightly. Mix the salad with a wide spoon, folding from the bottom as if you were folding meringue – too vigorous mixing will turn the eggplant into a paste.
How to serve
Serve slightly warm or at room temperature with jasmine rice as a light main, or as a side for grilled shrimp, tofu or chicken. For summer gatherings, make a big bowl and set lime wedges and a small bowl of peanuts on the side so everyone can finish their own portion to taste.
Watch out for
- Don’t cut the baking time for the eggplant – if it’s undercooked, it will be spongy instead of creamy.
- If the eggplant releases a lot of juice after roasting, gently squeeze it out so it doesn’t dilute the dressing.
- Add the herbs at the end and don’t chop them too finely, or they’ll lose aroma and turn to mush.
Substitutions
- Replace fish sauce with light soy sauce to make a vegetarian version.
- Swap peanuts for toasted cashews or flaked almonds.
- If you don’t like very hot chili, use a milder pepper or remove the seeds.
Ingredients
- medium eggplants - 2 pieces
- red onion czerwona mała - 1 piece
- cherry tomatoes - 150 g
- fresh coriander - 3 tablespoons
- fresh mint - 2 tablespoons
- roasted unsalted peanuts - 3 tablespoons
- lime juice - 3 tablespoons
- fish sauce rybny - 2 tablespoons
- sugar trzcinowy - 1 tablespoon
- red chili pepper - 1 piece
- oil roślinny - 1 tablespoon
- salt
Preparation
- Wash and dry the eggplants. Cut them in half lengthwise. Score the flesh in a criss-cross pattern, without cutting through the skin. Lightly sprinkle with salt and set aside for 10 minutes, until droplets of juice appear on the surface.
- Pat the eggplants dry with paper towels, blotting away the juice from the surface. Brush the cut side with a thin layer of oil – just enough to make it lightly glossy, not swimming in fat.
- Heat a grill, grill pan or oven with grill function until very hot. Place the eggplants cut side down and grill for 8–10 minutes, until dark grill marks appear and the edges of the flesh start to brown.
- Turn the eggplants skin side down and grill for another 10–15 minutes, until the flesh is very soft, a fork slides in without resistance and the centre begins to sink slightly. In the oven, bake skin side down at 200°C / 400°F for about 25–30 minutes, until the skin is wrinkled and darkened.
- Set the baked eggplants aside for 5–10 minutes to cool slightly and steam off. Scoop out the soft flesh with a spoon, trying not to take the tough skin, and cut it into irregular, larger chunks – it should be creamy but not completely falling apart.
- Slice the onion into thin slivers, cover with very cold water for 5 minutes, then drain thoroughly and pat dry; it should be crisp but milder in taste. Cut the cherry tomatoes into halves or quarters so they don’t dominate in size.
- In a small bowl, mix the lime juice, fish sauce, sugar and finely chopped chili. Stir until the sugar is completely dissolved and the dressing is clear and slightly sticky to the touch.
- In a large bowl, combine the eggplant flesh, drained onion, tomatoes, roughly chopped cilantro and mint. Pour over the dressing and very gently fold from the bottom so the eggplant stays in discernible pieces and doesn’t turn into a paste.
- Just before serving, sprinkle the salad generously with coarsely chopped, toasted peanuts. Taste and adjust with a pinch of salt or extra fish sauce if needed; the flavor should be distinctly sour, salty, slightly sweet and spicy.
Storage
No storage information available for this dish.
I like this salad best when the eggplant is still gently steaming and I add the peanuts right at the table so everyone can load up their own extra crunch.
