Spicy Garlic Eggplant

The long dog days of summer in Hong Kong are here...OVERCAST, HOT and HUMID.  Chili peppers are just the perfect solution to add a little spice in our lives while I hang out in the aircon.


My teenagers love hot and spicy foods and we literally go through a bottle of "red hot" every week. I swear they would eat anything if it was hot and spicy. Hmm....I wonder what the chances are that I could get them to eat their vegetables? 


Spicy Garlic Eggplant is a dish from the Szechuan province.  Eggplants in Asia are the thin long kind. They have less seeds are more sweet and milder than the western eggplants. 

Details are below on the full and original recipe for Spicy Garlic Eggplant. However as busy mom's know there are always short cuts. If you want to make this delicious dish in no time flat then just call upon your friend, Lee Kum Lee
http://hk.lkk.com/en_cop_hk/products/retail/sauceforspicygarliceggplant. 


Spicy Garlic Eggplant

• 2 medium sized Chinese or Japanese eggplants
• 2 tsp minced garlic
• 1 tsp minced ginger
• 1 green onion chopped
• 2 tsp light soy sauce
• 2 tsp dark soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon rice wine (my favorite Shao Xing rice wine)
• 1 tablespoon rice vinegar
• 1/2 tsp granulated sugar
• 1/3 cup chicken broth
• 1/4 cup ground pork
• 1/2 tsp white pepper
• 1/4 tsp cornstarch
• 1 tablespoon canola or olive oil for frying
• 1 tablespoon chili garlic sauce or more for taste
• 1 tsp cornstarch to be mixed with sauce
• sesame oil to taste

Step 1: Cut up the eggplant into 2 inch long cubes

Step 2: Marinate the pork- mix the pork with white pepper, 1 tsp of light soy sauce, 1 tsp of dark soy sauce and 1/4 tsp cornstarch and set aside.

Step 3: Make the sauce- in a small bowl mix together 1 tsp light soy sauce, 1 tsp dark soy sauce, vinegar, rice wine, sugar, chicken broth and 1 tsp cornstarch and set aside

Step 4: Saute the eggplant lightly for 2-3 minutes until lightly browned. If you have a nonstick wok, then cook without oil or very little oil and dab with towel when you take out.

Step 5: Put 1 tsp of olive oil in wok and stir fry garlic and ginger until aromatic.

Step 6: Stir fry the marinated pork for about 2-3 minutes until browned.

Step 7: Add the cooked eggplant and stir for 1 minute.

Step 8: While stirring the wok add the sauce mixture into the eggplant and pork mixture just until blended.

Step 8: Drizzle this dish with sesame oil and add chopped green onions to garnish. Serve while hot. You can adjust the spice/heat of this dish by reducing or adding more garlic chili sauce. 

Step 9: Enjoy....- Hen hao chi (very tasty)