Chinese eggplant with garlic sauce recipe
Chinese eggplant with garlic sauce (Yu Xiang eggplant) is a garlicky and savory stir fry dish. Chinese eggplants are half-braised and half-stirfried until buttery delicious. This recipe is tailed for home cooks to make easily!
Servings: 6 servings
Ingredients
For the eggplants:
- 1 lb Chinese eggplants 2 long eggplants
- 3 cups water optional
- 3 tbsp white vinegar optional
- 2-2.5 tbsp tapioca starch optional
For the ground meat:
- 3 tbsp avocado oil divided
- 0.5 lb ground pork
- 1/2 tsp coarse sea salt
- ¼ tsp ground black pepper
- 1 tbsp mirin or Chinese rice wine, optional
- 0.8 oz garlic cloves finely minced, 5 large
- 5 whole Chinese dry red chili peppers
- 2 bulb spring onions diced
For the garlic sauce:
- 1 cup chicken stock
- 3 tbsp coconut aminos or 2 tbsp soy sauce + 2 tsp sugar
- 2 tbsp aged balsamic vinegar or Chinese black vinegar
- 2 tbsp rice vinegar
- 0.5 oz garlic clove grated, 3 large
Instructions
Prepare Chinese eggplants:
- Slice off the tip ends of the eggplants. Rinse and pat dry. Slice the eggplant crosswise into 2.5-inch sections then quarter each section lengthwise.
- Soaking: In a large bowl, add the eggplants and fill the bowl with tap water. Place a plate up-side-down on top of the eggplants to help them submerge under the water. Soak for 10 minutes. After soaking, pat them dry and toss them with starch.
Aromatics and Garlic sauce:
- In the meantime, prepare the garlic, set aside red chilies, and combine the garlic sauce in a measuring cup.
Cook the ground meat:
- In a well-heated large non-stick saute pan, add 1 tbsp oil, fry the meat over medium-high heat until it’s cooked through and break up to fine pieces, about 5 minutes. Season with salt, pepper, and mirin, and add-in the garlic and dry chilies. Fry the ground meat for 1 more minute.
Fry the eggplant:
- Push the meat to the side of the pan, add the eggplants and the remaining 2 tbsp oil, and season with another pinch of salt. Fry the eggplants over medium-high heat for 3 minutes.
Add the garlic sauce:
- Pour in the garlic sauce. Gently push the eggplants down to touch the liquid. Cover with a lid. Lower the heat to medium and simmer for 3-4 minutes until the eggplants are soft and cooked through, stirring every 2 minutes. Turn off the meat.
Serving:
- Transfer them to a large serving bowl and garnish with scallions. Serve warm with a bowl of steamed rice.
Video
Notes
- Soaking the eggplants will reduce the need to use a larger amount of oil because eggplants like to drink up a lot of oil.
- The mirin and Chinese dry red chili peppers are optional. The chilies are used for colors as they are used whole and not cut up. They also add a hint of spicy flavor. You can substitute with ⅛ tsp of Korean red pepper flakes - gochugaru - for a similar flavor.
- You also use ground chicken, turkey, or beef. The flavor will be slightly different but still delicious.
- If you choose Italian or graffiti, the flavor will be a bit different. These eggplants are less sweet and have more seeds. After slicing, salt them for 15 minutes to draw out the bitterness and pat them dry before cooking. There's no need to rinse after salting.
Nutrition
Serving: 1serving | Calories: 224kcal | Carbohydrates: 13g | Protein: 8g | Fat: 15g | Saturated Fat: 4g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 2g | Monounsaturated Fat: 9g | Cholesterol: 27mg | Sodium: 393mg | Potassium: 349mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 4g | Vitamin A: 24IU | Vitamin C: 4mg | Calcium: 31mg | Iron: 1mg