Paleo Chinese Eggplant In Garlic Sauce
Paleo Chinese Eggplant in Garlic Sauce with buttery and melt-in-your-mouth eggplants, braised in a garlic sauce. This eggplant recipe is vinegary, naturally sweet, and savory, plus it’s Paleo, Whole30, and gluten-free.
Paleo Chinese Eggplants in Garlic Sauce
Chinese eggplants have a long and slender shape than other varieties. They have thinner skin and sweeter taste than globe eggplants. There’s no need to peel Chinese eggplants so this helps to speed up the cooking process. The purple skin is rich in antioxidants and they are great for stir-frying, braising, roasting, and frying. They add depth and smoky flavor to a dish.
How to select Chinese eggplants
Choose eggplant that has a firm texture, glossy skin, no bruises, and feel heavy to its weight.
How to cut Chinese eggplant
Rinse the eggplants and dry with a paper towel. Slice of the stem end with a sharp knife. Make a few small incision cuts in a 45-degree angle to remove the stem.
Quarter the eggplants in lengthwise then dice to 2.5 to 3-inch long sections. This is the most common shape you’ll see in Paleo Chinese Eggplant in Garlic Sauce recipe. See the recipe notes for globe eggplant instructions.
How to cook Chinese eggplant
Chinese eggplants have thinner skin and are naturally sweeter in taste than the traditional globe eggplants. They can be cooked without peeling. Chinese eggplants can be used in many ways. For example, Japanese eggplant tempura, eggplants braised in garlic sauce or Sichuan spicy garlic sauce, or stuffed eggplants that are popular in China, Vietnam, and Malaysian cuisines. They are all very delicious!
Chinese eggplant substitute
You can use globe eggplants or graffiti eggplants. These eggplants have thicker skin so your cook time will be slightly longer. In general, you don’t need to peel the skin. Dice the globe eggplants to smaller chunks/cubes so it will take less time to cook.
Chinese eggplant nutrition
Eggplant is a high-fiber, low-calorie food that is rich in antioxidants because of its purple skin. It comes with many potential health benefits from reducing the risk of heart disease to weight loss. You can find more information on eggplant benefits.
Less oily way to make eggplants
My mom always says that eggplants like to drink a lot of oil. What she meant is that if you don’t soak the eggplants in water first, they need a lot of oil to cook tender.
There are a few ways to make your eggplant dish less oily. Some people soak them in water first and others salt the eggplants to draw out the water content. For today’s Paleo Chinese Eggplant in Garlic Sauce recipe, the eggplants are braised in a garlic sauce. It’s a simpler way to make eggplants without having to soak or salt them first and the dish tastes so delicious and non-oily.
Serve my Paleo Chinese Eggplant in Garlic Sauce with cauliflower rice, zucchini noodles, steamed rice, or boiled rice noodles. This dish goes well with so many things and I highly recommend that you give it a try!
Leave a comment below and rate the recipe. Every single vote counts. It’ll help me and my blog tremendously. Thanks so much in advance. I appreciate it. ❤️
Paleo Chinese Eggplant in Garlic Sauce (Whole30, Gluten-Free)
Ingredients
- 1.5 lbs Chinese eggplants or globe eggplants, (see notes)
- 3 tbsp avocado oil
- 0.5 lb ground pork, , or any other types of ground meat
- 0.5 tsp coarse sea salt, , plus more
- 0.25 tsp ground black pepper
- 2 tbsp minced garlic, (~4 to 5 large cloves)
- 0.2 oz. Chinese dry red chilies, or ½ tsp crushed red pepper flakes
Paleo Chinese Garlic Sauce:
- 3 tbsp coconut aminos
- 2 tbsp aged balsamic vinegar
- ⅔ cup chicken or vegetable stock
- 2 tbsp rice vinegar
Other:
- 1 tsp arrowroot starch
- 2 tbsp cold water
- 2 bulbs scallions, , chopped (garnish)
- Toasted sesame seeds, (optional)
Instructions
- Rinse and pat dry the eggplants. Slice of the stem end with a sharp knife. Make a few small incision cuts in 45-degree angle to remove the stem. Quarter the eggplants in lengthwise then dice to 2.5 to 3-inch long sections.
- Mince garlic, chop scallions, Combine Paleo Chinese garlic sauce from coconut aminos to rice vinegar in one bowl, and make the slurry with arrowroot and cold water in another bowl.
- In a well-heated large saute pan, add 1.5 tbsp avocado oil, fry the ground meat over medium-high heat until it’s cooked through and break up to fine pieces, about 2-3 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.
- Add minced garlic and chilies, and season with another pinch of salt. Fry with the ground meat for 1 minute. Add eggplants and 1.5 tbsp oil, and season with another pinch of salt. Stir-fry for 3 to 4 minutes.
- Pour in the garlic sauce. Gently push the eggplants down to touch the liquid. Cover with a lid. Cook over medium heat for 3-4 minutes, stirring every 2 minutes. Once the eggplants turn softer, stir the slurry one more time then pour it into the pan. Stir-fry for 10-15 seconds to thicken the sauce.
- Off heat, garnish with scallions and toasted sesame seeds, if using. Serve hot or in room temperature with cauliflower rice or zucchini noodles for Paleo and Whole30. You can also serve it with steamed rice and cooked rice noodles for a gluten-free meal.
Notes
Nutrition
Also check out my Paleo Chinese Sesame Chicken, Chinese Chicken Lettuce Wraps, Chicken Cabbage Stir-Fry, and Whole30 Crispy Chinese Chicken Wings!
Loved it! Was following on a small phone so I ended up cutting the eggplant into much smaller pieces. Used 6 cloves of garlic and a whole pound of chopped meat. Substituted Peanut oil for 1/2 the oil. If you’re a spicy eater, up the pepper flakes, too.
THat sounds delicious!
What a great recipe! I learned a lot about Chinese Eggplant from this recipe, and it is so delicious. The flavors are so good, and the eggplant is amazing. I serve it over rice, and everyone always loves it. YUM!
Thank you, Carlie!
My second recipe I’ve made of yours and another favourite! Thank you so much! Will definitely be making this over and over again 🙂 I didn’t have rice vinegar or balsamic on hand, so I just used apple cider vinegar in place of the rice vinegar. Also, didn’t have any broth or stock on hand, so just used water and it was still SO good. Thank you, thank you, thank you! XOXO
So great to hear. Thanks for sharing, Meg!
I loved this recipe. I added a dash of fish sauce.
That sounds perfect! Thank you!
Yum! Made slight changes because I wanted to keep the carbs low… omitted the balsamic and subbed fish sauce and added fresh ginger and salted peanuts. Fast and delish! Thanks for the recipe 😊
Lovely! SO happy to hear
This looks amazing. I’m going to be making it this week. Love that it’s non-oily!
I made this recipe without meat and it was easy and delish but too much on the sweet side. Any sugggestijns for making it less sweet?
Thanks!
Thanks, Mindy. The seasoning is calculated with the ground meat. Use less aged balsamic and coconut aminos if you are making this dish with eggplants only. 🙂
Delicious! Made a double recipe and my three teenagers who don’t like eggplant were scraping the pan and asking for more.
I just love your recipes, but especially your veggie dishes because they’re so creative and just packed with flavor!
If there was my favorite sauce in the world, it would be garlic sauce. I can imagine how tasty it makes the eggplant – delicious recipe!
Flavor developed nicely. DELICIOUS! Used globe eggplant, 1# ground pork and crushed red pepper. Thank you
This looks delicious! I love eggplant and can’t wait to give this a try!
This looks delicious! Look at those wonderful purple skins – such a great colour!
This looks delicious!! Such glorious colors too!
These flavors sound so good! I can’t wait to try this.
I had no idea you need to soak or salt eggplant. Good to know and I love that garlic sauce!
This was amazing! The eggplant is so tender – I’m hooked on your recipes!!
Yay! Thanks, Kate! This is quite a famous dish in China. So glad you like it! 🙂
Loving all the colors and textures! I will definitely add shishito peppers as I love those. Great idea!
This was DELICIOUS and so easy to make – we will be making this weekly from now on. Thank you for your amazing Whole30 & paleo friendly recipes!
Eggplant is a new found love for me..prepared well it is so darn addicting! I haven’t tried/seen the Chinese eggplants, can I use regular sized ones too?
I have never seen this kind of eggplant before! It is so cool! I will definitely pick up some of the egg plant we have here – we usually have the globe kind and will see the graffiti added in in the summer months! Looks so tasty!
Ah this looks amazing. That garlic sauce alone sounds so flavorful!
This looks gorgeous! And of course I want to eat it all up. Can’t wait to try.
I always see the japanese eggplants at whole foods but have not gotten the courage to buy them! Thanks for this recipe because now I have the best reason to buy them!
Gorgeous! That sauce sound delicious.
This recipe looks so interesting! I can’t wait to try this!
I can’t wait to try this recipe. I’ve been blessed to be able to go to China 3 times. Each time I eat at a restaurant in Dali Old Town that has eggplant in garlic sauce on the menu. It’s one of my favorite dishes there. Thanks so much for the recipe!
That’s awesome, Debra. So happy to hear. Yup, this dish is definitely inspired by the traditional claypot braised eggplant!