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 Chinese cooking wine
- 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
- 2 tbsp soy sauce
- 2 tsp sugar or more to taste
- 1 tbsp Chinese black vinegar or more to taste
- 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 cooking wine, 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
- Why soak the eggplants? Soaking in vinegar water helps reduce oil absorption and keeps their purple color vibrant.
- Selecting Chinese eggplants: Choose ones with smooth, shiny skin and no wrinkles or bruises. The color should be bright purple, and they should feel firm and slightly spongy to the touch.
- Different ground meat: You can also use ground chicken (at least 50% dark meat), turkey, or beef. The flavor will be slightly different but still delicious.
- Other eggplant types: If you’re using Italian or graffiti eggplants, the flavor will be a bit different. They’re less sweet and have more seeds. After slicing, salt them for 15 minutes to draw out bitterness, then pat them dry before cooking. There’s no need to rinse after salting. You might need to adjust the sauce by adding a touch more sugar.
- Gluten-free substitutes: Use gluten-free mirin as a 1:1 substitute for Chinese cooking wine. Chinese black vinegar is not gluten-free, so aged balsamic vinegar is the easiest swap. Aged balsamic has a deeper, more caramelized flavor and is sweeter, so you may not need to add extra sugar. Regular balsamic vinegar (not aged) is much more acidic and lacks the depth needed to mimic Chinese black vinegar—I don’t recommend using it as a substitute. Taste and adjust as needed.
- Make-ahead, storage, and reheating: This dish is best served fresh, but the garlic sauce can be made 1 to 3 days in advance and stored in the fridge. Leftovers will keep in an airtight container in the fridge for 3 to 4 days.
- Microwave: Reheat on medium power for 1.5 to 2 minutes, stirring halfway through.
- Stovetop: Reheat over medium-low to medium heat, stirring frequently with a wooden spoon.
Nutrition
Serving: 1serving | Calories: 222kcal | Carbohydrates: 12g | Protein: 9g | Fat: 15g | Saturated Fat: 4g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 2g | Monounsaturated Fat: 9g | Cholesterol: 27mg | Sodium: 572mg | Potassium: 372mg | Fiber: 3g | Sugar: 5g | Vitamin A: 245IU | Vitamin C: 4mg | Calcium: 32mg | Iron: 1mg