Syrian Inspired Dish of Fried Eggplant with Ground Meat Dish Is Perfect for Cold Weather

By Ryo Kato / Yomiuri Shimbun Staff Writer

12:30 JST, November 16, 2025

The temperatures are dropping. Aki Komatsu, a food researcher specializing in Middle Eastern cuisine, shares a recipe for fried eggplant stuffed with ground beef, a home-style Syrian dish perfect for when you crave something hot.

This dish involves frying eggplant and stuffing ground meat into it before braising. Recipes vary slightly by household. Outside the home, this dish is typically found in casual eateries rather than restaurants. It is similar to nikujaga meat and potato stew and served with rice in Syria. Sometimes, it is also served with bread.

“Although the main ingredients are just eggplant and ground meat, the rich flavor of the meat makes the dish incredibly satisfying and easy to eat,” Komatsu said.

For the meat filling, Komatsu chose beef, which is commonly used in Syria. After sauteing the ingredients, add butter along with the seasonings to enhance the richness of the dish.

To prepare, peel the skin of the eggplants in stripes along its length while leaving some skin intact. Then make a slit in one of the peeled parts. In Syria, the skin is sometimes peeled entirely, but Japanese eggplant is softer, so leaving some of the skin on makes it easier to eat. To prevent the eggplants from splitting in half, do not make the slit too deep. About 1-2 centimeters deep is sufficient.

When frying the eggplants, thoroughly remove the moisture from the surface beforehand. Otherwise, the oil can splash. Fry until the eggplants become golden brown all over so that they will absorb oil and have a better flavor and aroma. This will also prevent them from falling apart during the braising process.

Once the fried eggplants have cooled, gently open the slit with a spoon and stuff the ground meat filling inside.

Arrange the eggplants in a heat-resistant container, and add the seasoned water until it covers half the eggplants. Braise in the oven.

If you do not have an oven, place the eggplants in a frying pan and simmer while pouring the seasoned water over them. It may be nice to switch up the flavor by adding consomme or tomato paste when braising.

The eggplants become so tender that they may be difficult to pick up with chopsticks. Their sweet, slightly bitter and spicy aroma pairs perfectly with rice, provides a comforting feeling. I have discovered that this harmony between a simmered dish and rice holds true both in Japanese and Middle Eastern cuisine.

Fried eggplant stuffed with ground beef

Ingredients (serves 2):

• 6 eggplants
• 120 grams ground beef
• 1/4 onion
• 1 clove garlic
• 10 grams butter
• 1½ tsp allspice
• 5 cherry tomatoes
• 1/2 tomato
• 2 green chilies
• Pine nuts to taste
• Parsley to taste
• Cooking oil as needed



Directions:

1. Finely chop the onion and garlic. Heat a frying pan with a little less than 1 tablespoon of oil. Saute the onion and garlic until softened. Add the ground beef and saute until cooked through. Season with a small amount of salt and pepper, butter and 1 teaspoon of allspice. Place in a container and let cool.

2. Remove the stems from the eggplants. Using a peeler, peel the skin vertically in several places but leave some on. In each eggplant, make a shallow vertical slit in one of the peeled parts.

3. Heat oil to 180 C and fry the eggplants.

4. Once the fried eggplants have cooled completely, stuff equal amounts of sauteed ground beef into the slit of each eggplant.

5. In a separate bowl, mix 150 milliliters water, 1/2 teaspoon of allspice and a small amount of salt and pepper.

6. Remove the stems from the cherry tomatoes. Slice the half tomato thinly into wedges.

7. Arrange the stuffed eggplants in a heat-resistant container and pour the water from step 5 over it. Place one slice of seeded tomato on top of each eggplant, and arrange the cherry tomatoes and green chilies around them.

8. Braise the stuffed eggplants in a preheated oven set to 200 C for about 20 minutes. Remove from the oven and sprinkle with pine nuts and parsley. Serve with rice if desired.

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  The Yomiuri Shimbun
  Saute ground meat with onion and garlic.

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  The Yomiuri Shimbun
  In each eggplant, make a shallow vertical slit in one of the peeled parts.

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  The Yomiuri Shimbun
  Fry the eggplants.

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  The Yomiuri Shimbun
  Stuff the sauteed ground beef into each eggplant.

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