Spicy Thai basil eggplant with tofu is a dish we ordered when we used to eat out before the pandemic and the dieting. We periodically try to make it at home with varying results. Saturday’s rendition was closer. Some day when we finally get it right I will post a recipe.

Here it is cooking on the stove. John has marinated the tofu in the sauce which we will steam all the components (eggplant, tofu, onion, basil, red bell pepper, Fresno chile, and garlic) in off heat at the end.

We serve our dish with a combo of rice and cauliflower rice and a green salad with a sweet Asian dressing. The creaminess comes from a combination of light mayonnaise and non-fat Greek yogurt. It is a good counterpoint to the spicy eggplant/tofu.

We just need to get the sauce right. We went a more nuoc cham route last night which was good but not quite right. Also ours was not spicy enough. We have ordered this dish in various places from Mojave, CA where normal meant blow-your-head-off spicy to Idaho Falls where it was also amazingly spicy. So we need to land somewhere between really, really spicy and our pretty bland meal last night.