Eggplant Bacon
This Eggplant Bacon goes with EVERYTHING! It's the perfect vegan alternative to the real thang and it's actually super easy to make.
Equipment
- oven
Ingredients
- 2 Japanese eggplants
- 2 tbsp Olive oil (or avocado oil)
- 1 tbsp maple syrup
- 1 tbsp apple cider vinegar
- 1 tbsp vegan worcestershire sauce
- 1 tsp tamari
- 1 tsp mellow miso
- 4 dashes liquid smoke (less is more here)
- 1 tsp smoked paprika
- pinch of salt
- pinch garlic powder
- cracked pepper to taste
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 400. Use the convection setting if you have it.
- Slice the eggplants into quarter inch strips. I like Japanese eggplants because I can use my Mandolin to get a uniform thickness and the slices look like bacon strips. You can use any type of eggplant and cut the slices any way you want as long as you maintain a relatively uniform thickness.
- Liberally sprinkle the eggplant slices with sea salt and then arrange in layers in a large colander and place in the sink or over a bowl.
- After 15 or 20 minutes the eggplant will release some moisture.
- Rinse the salt off the slices and then pat dry and place on a rack over a baking sheet.
- Whisk together all the wet and dry ingredients except the pepper. Brush half the mixture on the topside of the eggplant stripes and season with cracked pepper.
- Put the baking sheet into the oven for 20 minutes. Remove from the oven and flip the stripes over. Paint the stripes with the remaining mixture and season with more cracked pepper.
- Bake until you start to see crispy edges (about another 15 minutes). Watch closely as the stripes can skip from perfect to burnt to a crisp very quickly.