Boulanger, Surinamese style

Who would've thought I'd be cooking out here in the Philippines. But that's exactly what I'm doing. Turns out, I'm not crazy about the food here. And it's either spending way to much for an ok diner or cooking myself. So today I'm making boulanger, Surinamese style. Boulanger, or eggplant, is easy made. Which is great cause I don't want to buy a lot of stuff I won't be using afterwards. Only thing to keep in mind is that I'm not using the European type of eggplant but more like the Indian ones.

5-6 small eggplants (2-3 medium ones)
1 medium onion
1 small tomato
1 tbsp dried shrimp*
1-2 cubes maggi
Salt and pepper to taste
1 Madame Jeanette pepper (optional)

Ok so place your shrimps in a bit of hot water and leave to soak for a minute or two. Drain and set aside.
Next peel your eggplants and chop them up in small cubes.
Chop up you tomato and set aside.
Chop up your onion and place in pan with a bit of oil. Make sure your pan has a lid as you'll be leaving the eggplant to simmer. I actually had to switch pans here cause the first one didn't come with a lid...

Sauté onions on medium to low heat. Add the eggplant and mix with onions. Place lid on top and leave to simmer on low heat. 

When the eggplant starts to welt add the tomato, shrimps and maggi. Stir and leave to simmer again. If you're using madame Jeanette pepper, this would be the time to add it. 

Add more maggi, salt and pepper to taste. You're dish is done when the eggplant is almost smooth. It should still be a bit lumpy but cooked through completely.
Enjoy!

* I actually didn't have any dried shrimps, so I used dried squid instead. Clearly this has a much stronger flavor so I just used half of a small squidie bit.

I've sneaked off

Ok I'm sorry, but I'm really not. It's been quiet here for a while now and that has its reasons. Truth is I've been preparing my escape into Asia. I told you guys before that I was hoping to find employment there but I'm tired of waiting. So I've just head off into the unknown. There are a few options I'm still waiting to hear on and I'm really hoping it will work out cause that would allow me some carefree  traveling for a few months. In the meantime I've sneaked off to the Philippines for some well needed r&r.

Ttyl ;)