These gorgeous eggplant rolls are healthy and easy to make. They are called gaji mari in Korean. Gaji is eggplant, and mari refers to rolled up dishes. The thinly sliced eggplants are briefly cooked in a skillet, rolled up with other vegetables, and served with a sauce. 

Eggplants cook down significantly, so make sure they are not too slender when you buy them.

I used colorful fresh bell peppers and enoki mushrooms in this recipe. Play around with different vegetables such as carrot, cucumber, red cabbage and sprouts to create interesting combination of colors and texture.

Serve them with a hot mustard sauce or a soy-based sauce. These rolls are great as a side dish or simply as a salad.

Ingredients:

2 Korean/Asian eggplants (long and thick)

2 to 3 tablespoons of perilla or sesame oil (or olive oil)

1/4 red bell pepper

1/4 orange bell pepper

1/4 yellow bell pepper

1/4 green bell pepper

1 package of enoki mushrooms (paengi beoseot)


Hot mustard sauce:

1 teaspoon Korean hot mustard (yeon gyeoja)

1 tablespoon vinegar

1 tablespoon rice syrup (or sugar)

1 tablespoon juice from grated pear or Korean plum syrup (or apple juice)

1/8 teaspoon salt


Soy-based sauce:

1 tablespoon soy sauce

1 tablespoon vinegar

1 tablespoon Korean plum extract (or apple juice)

1 teaspoon sugar

pinch of black pepper

Prepare the filling vegetables by thinly slicing and cutting into short lengths.

Thinly slice the eggplant lengthwise by running a peeler through the eggplant while pressing it down as hard as you can. Putting pressure on the peeler will help with cutting even slices that are as thick as possible with a peeler. You can also use a mandoline to slice the eggplant.

Heat a pan with a tablespoon of oil. Place the eggplant slices in a single layer, lightly sprinkle with salt and pepper, and cook briefly over medium heat, 1 or 2 minutes per each side. Transfer to a plate.

Lay an eggplant slice on a flat surface. Place assorted vegetables on top at one end of the eggplant slice and roll up all the way. Repeat until all eggplant slices are used up.

For more recipes visit www.koreanbapsang.com.

By Ro Hyo-sun