Mushroom and Eggplant Yassa Recipe (2024)

I have found that cubing eggplant and placing in a lightly oiled cast iron pan in preheated oven after a light sprinkle of salt & roasting 10 - 15 min. w'a least one 'flipping' softens it w'out excessive oiliness as happens in this more conventional way. Have done numerous dishes similar to this w'great success this way!

12 minutes to carameliza onions? Not in my experience, especially at medium. I’d allow at least 30 minutes.

Hi Brenda, it sounds like you and your family are chile-sensitive so I would start with jalapeño, deveined and deseeded. The next step up might be Serrano, also deveined and deseeded. I remove the seeds and pith from all of my chiles. They add extra heat and no extra flavor. If you want your dish to be spicier, either use more chile or a different chile. Hope this helps.

I looked up Scotch bonnet chile and it would be too hot for us. What would be a suitable substitute?

03/20/2023 - Better than expected--a keeper.Started onions with bay leaves, then roasted mushrooms and unpeeled garlic cloves at 425 til mushrooms gave up liquid; added eggplant to absorb mushroom liquid and roasted all (~30 min. total).Peeled and mashed roasted garlic into onions and added ginger and thyme. Used only ~1 c. veg broth (Better Than Bouillon). Added mushroom mix to onions and finished with lime juice, mustard, and scallions as in recipe.

This was excellent. I couldn't find a Scotch bonnet, but a habanero worked as a substitute. And the leftovers made for a delicious work lunch a few days later. I may try adding some toasted cashews for texture next time.Only problem is that this is one of those "pile 2 skillets' worth of veggies into your skillet" recipes. Be prepared to lose some eggplant cubes during stirring until they all start to cook down a bit.

This is delicious and perfect for cold rainy evening meal. I did worry that the eggplant would not be tender, so I cut half inch slices and put them in the microwave with a wet paper towel for 6 minutes. I then sectioned them in cubes. Liked by all.

This recipe has incredible depth of flavor. I cooked it longer until almost all liquid was evaporated. The next day, I put the leftovers on toast for breakfast. YUM!

With basic ingredients that are so healthy, how can one add so much unhealthy fat and salt? I start my eggplant cubes in the microwave, then add them to whatever dish I am making, so neither salt nor much oil is required. Mushrooms and onions do well with minimum oil on very low heat too. Great flavor doesn't require loads of oil or salt. Flavor shines with moderation.

Flavorful and easy to prepare. Added a tsp of coconut sugar to balance the sour. Served with white rice.

This was indeed tasty. I just felt a note was missing. A friend searched for Yassa and learned that fermented locust bean powder was a key umami ingredient. Who knew? Also, I would shy away from red onions and stick with the yellow. I cut the eggplant into half-inch cubes instead let the dish simmer longer to ensure they cooked. It will be even better the next day I believe.

Often have this issue w'husband. Found a smallish (3-5") banana yellow chili @ Farmer's Market this past year, mostly straight sided w'last 1/2 making a sharp tip. Have no idea name but a very 'bright' rather than HOT flavor that was perfect. Keep an eye out I think you will be impressed also!

Added sliced carrots and chick peas to make as a standalone stew. No limes so substituted lemon. Delish.

Recommend adding some umani with the garlic and ginger. I added chili’s mushroom Laht sauce. I also pre-roasted the eggplant 10 min at 400 after salting and drying the cubes for 1 hour.

Also, I already had maitake and shiitake mushrooms, so used those instead of buttons. Fantastic!

Wow. This is a great vegan meal... or, really, just a great meal! I served it over rice. I had a fresh jalapeno which I substituted for the Scotch Bonnet. It was not very spicy, but still delicious!

I threw some jaleopeno pepper in it since I don't have scotch bonnet and wouldn't know where to find it where I live. It was delicious.

Added Tofu (!) or protein, and served over Farro for its nutty grain texture. Scrumptious!

If you roast the eggplant in advance, I'd recommend reducing the broth a little. Adding chickpeas is a nice way to make it a more substantial main course.

I added the mushrooms back to the onion mixture before adding the garlic and ginger, and still loved the dish.

It was good. Followed the suggestion to roast the eggplant a bit. Used a habanero - it had heat, but for heat lovers, you could use two. Threw on some cashews for added protein and crunch. Would make it again.

Thought this turned out basically flavorless. Added some smoked paprika, which barely helped. Lots of leftovers to tinker with, maybe I can come up with something to add that will actually make this tasty. Also, it's a brown dish with no color or texture: as per one of the other cooking notes I'll add some carrots and chickpeas.

I added a layer of fresh arugula on top of each serving. I also did the 10 minute roasting of the cubed eggplant beforehand as was suggested. The dish was really delicious!I'll definitely make it again

I didn’t have a hot pepper so i used a generous lump of crushed red peppers and I also didn’t have fresh garlic (!) so I used garlic powder. I added some chopped up mint at the end. Delicious, and obviously a forgiving recipe.

I was so excited to make this recipe - all the things I love - eggplant, mushrooms, carmelized onions, lime, dijon. I found it to be very sour tasting and I didn't even use the full amount of lime it called for. The flavors did not work together.

Very nice, easy recipe. I did need to cook the stew a little longer to completely cook the eggplant.Next time I will make a little more sauce. Used fonio

Thank you, Chuck, for Scotch Bonnet subs!!!!

I’m used to Senegalese yassa and expected something similar with this dish. The dish itself was good, but it didn’t remind me of West Africa.

Delicious, but it took 90 minutes to prepare and cook, not 45, and I am pretty fast in the kitchen (I think). Great taste and texture, if bland colors bother you, you might add something else colorful.My partner missed dinner before her evening class due to time estimate. This is partly my fault, I know that NYT Cooking recipies are reliably overly optimistic on times (unless they just mean cook times, if so, they should clearly state that). Anyway, great recipe, poor time estimation.

This was tasty and a change of pace. The recipe worked fine for me as written in terms of timing: the onions caramelized, the eggplant cooked. I used a habanero pepper (tossed in whole per the recipe) and the spice level was barely there - had to add Sriracha at the table. Served with farro and it was visually boring (all brown) but very filling; I'd do couscous next time - would've been lighter. The lime juice and mustard worked well, but could use more final garnishes for color and texture.