When visiting my local Chinatown, I can’t resist ordering a pot of spicy eggplants. Served with rice, this dish is the essence of Szechuan cuisine. It is very flavorful combining a sauce called “hot bean paste” which is made up of soy beans and hot peppers it works amazingly well with the sauce ingredients – As a leftover, it’s great as well! I wouldn’t call this a classic dish, as most of my non-Asian friends aren’t very familiar with it, but it is a must-try dish. I do not recommend this dish for those who have issues with hot peppers, it can be on the hot side, though in the note at the bottom, I explain how you can calm its “hot temper”.
Ingredients
- 4 medium sized eggplants (500 g)
- 2 tbsp ginger, minced
- 1 tbsp garlic, minced
- 2 green onion stalks, minced
- Minced pork, 250 g
- 2 tbsp Hot Bean Sauce
- 3 tbsp vegetable oil
Sauce
- 2 tbsp light soy sauce
- 1 tbsp dar soy sauce
- 1/2 C chicken stock
- 1 tbsp sugar
- 1 tbsp Chinese rice wine/Sherry
- 1 tbsp rice vinegar
- 1 tbsp starch solution
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- Wash and slice eggplants into 1/2 inch slices.
- Combine all sauce ingredients except cornstarch slurry in a bowl.
- Fry eggplants in 1 tbsp oil on high heat until soft, set aside.
- Heat remaining oil in large skillet over medium heat and add ginger, garlic, scallions and hot bean paste. Quickly stir for a few seconds and add ground pork. Cook until no just barely pink.
- Put back the eggplants and add the sauce. Increase heat to high, cover and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium and let it cook until liquid is reduced by half.
- Prepare cornstarch slurry (1 tbsp cornstarch + 3 tbsp cold water) and add slurry to skillet and stir until sauce has thickened. Transfer to a service bowl and serve with rice.
Note: This dish can be quite spicy and hot, you can increase the sauce ingredients, especially the chicken stock to reduce the heat found in the Hot Bean Sauce.
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