If you are an eggplant fan, you need to add this stir-fry to your shortlist. Chinese eggplant with garlic sauce, or “fish fragrant eggplant” (yuxiang qiezi) is a familiar dish in many American Chinese restaurants and buffets these days, but it’s also a dish with many authentic variations in China. Here is another version of this much-loved classic.
In most cases, Chinese restaurants make this Chinese eggplant with garlic sauce dish by deep frying the eggplant, resulting in very tasty, soft eggplant, but also a very oily dish. This Chinese eggplant with garlic sauce uses a fraction of the oil in restaurant versions and is a game-changing healthy dish!
The eggplant pieces had to be cooked in two batches to ensure they would brown instead of steam. If you need to do this also, it will add some time to the overall recipe. As far as the ground pork, we used a bit more (25%) than called for. If you are vegetarian, you can skip the meat altogether or replace it with tofu.
Eggplant with Garlic Sauce
Ingredients
FOR THE SAUCE MIXTURE:
- 1/2 cup hot water
- 1 Tbsp. corn starch
- 1 tsp. toasted sesame oil
- 1 Tbsp. light soy sauce
- 1/2 tsp. dark soy sauce
- 1 Tbsp. sugar
- 1 Tbsp. Shaoxing wine or sherry
- 1 Tbsp. rice vinegar
- 1 1/2 Tbsp. oyster sauce or vegetarian oyster sauce
- 1/8 tsp. ground white pepper
- 6 cloves garlic, (finely minced), divided
FOR THE REST OF THE DISH:
- 2-3 Japanese or Chinese eggplants, (about 1 pound)
- 2 scallions, white and green parts finely chopped
- 4 Tbsp. neutral oil, divided
- 4 oz. ground pork, chicken, or turkey (optional)
- 2 tsp. minced fresh ginger
- 5 dried red chilies, or more to taste, seeded and sliced into small pieces
Directions
- Combine the sauce ingredients, adding only half of the minced garlic, in a small bowl and set aside. Reserve the remaining half of the garlic for later.
- Wash the eggplants, cut the ends off, and slice them into equal-sized pieces. After slicing, separate the green and white portions of the scallions into roughly two piles.
- Over medium-high heat, heat 1 1/2 tablespoons of oil in your wok. Add half of the eggplant and spread it into a single layer, then reduce the heat to medium. Let it sear until brown, about 3 minutes, then begin flipping and stirring it occasionally until it’s lightly browned all over. Take this first batch of eggplant out of the pan, heat a second tablespoon and a half of oil, and do the same with your second batch. Set all the cooked eggplant aside on a plate.
- Set the heat to high and add the last tablespoon of oil to the wok along with the ground pork and cook until opaque, breaking it up into small bits as you go. Add the ginger, dried chili peppers, and 3 cloves of minced garlic. Cook for 1 to 2 minutes, stirring constantly, until the aromatics are fragrant and lightly toasted. Add the eggplant back in, along with the stir-fry sauce. Stir-fry everything together for another 2 minutes, making sure everything is well combined.
- Toss in the scallions and stir-fry for another 20 seconds. Serve immediately with white or brown steamed rice.
Recipe from the Woks of Life Cookbook
Accounting for Taste 