Preheat the oven to 400°F.

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and drizzle with cooking oil. Place the eggplant slices on it and brush it tops of the eggplant with more cooking oil. Sprinkle with a couple of pinches of salt and roast for about 15 mins.

Crush garlic in a mortar and pestle just until they're broken into big chunks, or you can smash and roughly chop them.

Crush the chilies until broken and the seeds are released, but the chili is still in one piece. Alternatively, mince the chilies into small pieces.

In a wok or a large saute pan, add just enough oil to coat the bottom. Add the garlic and chilies and heat slowly over low heat until the garlic starts to turn golden around the edges.

Add shrimp paste, shrimp, fish sauce and sugar. Turn the heat up to high and toss just until the shrimp are cooked.

Add halved cherry tomatoes and toss briefly. Turn off the heat and keep tossing for another 30 seconds, using the residual heat to soften the tomatoes.

Taste and adjust seasoning with more fish sauce or sugar as needed.

If the eggplant is not done at this point, let the sauce hang out in the pan for now. When the eggplant is done, place the eggplant in one layer on a large serving plate. Turn the heat back on the shrimp to reheat briefly, then add the chopped cilantro and toss to mix. Pour the shrimp and all the sauce over the eggplant. Serve with jasmine rice. Enjoy!