Hanas don't know it's not bacon!

I'd been hesitant about trying the eggplant bacon idea, but i finally got another free eggplant and acted quickly to make it before the eggplant was too old. i searched online for this recipe and there are a lot of different versions:


http://www.eons.com/groups/topic/1790919
http://goneraw.com/recipe/eggplant-bacon
http://www.rawsimple.com/2009/05/everydayraw/
http://www.foodbuzz.com/recipes/1033474-eggplant-bacon-raw-vegan-
http://www.rawfoodtalk.com/showthread.php?t=5762
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/rawfood/message/28760
http://thesunnyrawkitchen.blogspot.com/2007/03/ode-to-raw-sammies-and-wraps-too.html



but i could see that they all had similar flavor elements (and of course they all had the eggplant.)
so they had some:
something oily (olive oil, sunflower..)
something salty (seasalt, soy sauce, bragg's liquid aminos..)
something sweet (honey, agave, maple syrup)
something spicy (black pepper, paprika, chilipowder)
maybe something tart (apple cider vinegar)

so whatever you choose will have a slight effect on the finished taste, but i think it's sorta mix and match. So i built my own recipe based on what i had in the kitchen.

2 tablespoons soysauce
2 Tbs. Apple cider vinegar (i used my home-brew kombucha, it tastes the same)
1/2 tsp. black pepper (used up the last at the bottom of the jar.)
chilipowder ( a teaspoon or so)
taco seasoning (optional. i like that it has cumin, which gives a "meaty" flavor)
2 tbls. honey
i had to add some water to feel like i had enough marinade to cover all the eggplant.
3 tbls oil i used sunflower


here's my marinade in the mixing bowl.





to make all the bacon slices i just cut the eggplant in half lengthwise. then i put the cut side face-down on my mandolin slicer and sliced away! it went so fast. (thanks goes to my sister who gave me this handy kitchen dealy. the blade is so sharp i can make a whole carrot into thin rounds in a snap. cuts through it like butter. )


i put all the slices in a large ziploc bag and poured in the marinade. i added a little extra water until i felt like i had enough to get all the slices drenched in it. i had this bag in the fridge for 24 hours, but it probably didn't have too be that long. it seemed like some of the slices soaked up more than others, and became darker and translucent. i would guess the difference was due to being from different areas on the eggplant?

i laid out the slices on my trays in the evening, and rotated the order of the stack the next morning. i'm not sure how long it took them all to dry, but i think less than one day. they are very thin.






so the end result was a crispy, spicy chip! it reminded me a bit of BBQ flavor potato chips (except these were better.) with the oil on them, they didn't stick to the trays at all. i should have moved them to airtight packaging right away, but i just sorta stored them in the trays. the downside to this was that a few days later, they had reabsorbed some moisture from the air (probably from the hygroscopic nature of the honey) so they had lost the crispiness. that was easy to fix though, i just turned the dehydrator back on for a few hours and they dried out again!




here is some bacon acting as crispy croutons on some salad. ( the white stuff is the raw cheese i mentioned earlier, which makes a yummy dressing)