I know what you're thinking..."I hate eggplant". Well, you won't hate this eggplant. Trust me. Have I ever steered you wrong???
Chinese Eggplant
This recipe will change the way you view eggplant. So freaking good.
- Prep Time5 min
- Cook Time15 min
- Total Time20 min
- Serving Size2-4
Ingredients
- 1 Eggplant or 2 Chinese Eggplants
- Corn Starch - about 2-4 TBS
- 2 TBS Light Soy Sauce
- 1 tsp Dark Soy Sauce
- 2 TBS Sugar
- Olive Oil as needed - about 1/4 cup
- 1/4 Inch Chopped Fresh Ginger
- 3 Garlic Cloves
Method
Prepare a wok or large saucepan by drizzling with olive oil. About 2 TBS.
Cut your eggplant into bite sized pieces and put half in a bowl
Roughly sprinkle the eggplant in the bowl with cornstarch and toss around to evenly coat. Pour out the bowl into the saucepan and do the same with the other half of eggplant.
Turn the heat on to medium high and brown the eggplant so that the sides are a dark brown color. Stir only occasionally and during this process, drizzle more olive oil 2-3 times throughout it cooking. About 10 minutes.
Meanwhile, combine the dark and light soy sauce and sugar in a bowl and set aside.
Mince the ginger and garlic cloves and set aside.
Once the eggplant is mostly browned, add in the ginger and garlic cloves and cook for 2-3 more minutes.
Next, pour the soy sauce and sugar mixture over the eggplant and combine. Cook for an additional 1-2 minutes and serve.
Prepare to be amazed.
If I could beg you to try one recipe from my blog, this is the one!
The first time I was introduced to this eggplant was a month ago. My brother and my beautiful Chinese sister in law came to visit us with their family and to see the sights. In Vegas there is no shortage of ridiculously good food. They wanted to try to see if they could find some delicious and authentic Chinese food, and did they ever! We went to this amazing Szechuan inspired Chinese restaurant named Yun Nan Garden. According to my sister in law, it was very authentic and according to all of us, very delicious!
Everything there was amazing. From the pea shoots to the spicy noodle soup. But the one thing that stood out was the eggplant. Ooooooooh be still my beating heart. I couldn’t eat enough. The funny thing is, I don’t even like eggplant! It’s seriously that good.
I had to find the recipe and recreate it at home.
I poured over Pinterest and stumbled across a great blog called “Ominvores Cook Book”. Her recipe was delicious and tasted almost exactly how it tasted at Yun Nan Garden. I was so excited!!!! I could have this amazing dish anytime I wanted. I made a few modifications to shorten the time it took to make, changed a few of the measurements, and added more sauce. I think that these changes have made it taste exactly like the one I ate at Yun Nan Garden. SUCCESS!! Since then I have made it at least 3 times a week. It’s a fast and delicious lunch that fills my body and soul.
EAT MORE EGGPLANT
Did you know that eggplant is an excellent source of fiber? Bonus!
It’s also good for your brain, can help with diabetes, lowers your blood pressure and helps in the prevention of some cancers. Um, why isn’t this on the superfood list? Probably because nobody knows it can taste this good.
Don’t be afraid to use enough oil. Eggplant needs fat to help it transform from a caterpillar into “a beautiful butterfly”. (10 points if you knew that was from A Bugs Life.) You’ll notice that it instantly soaks it up.
The great thing about this dish is that you don’t really have to flavor anything else to have a bangin’ good meal. I made this for lunch today and the chicken was just seasoned with garlic powder, onion powder, salt and pepper. There’s so much flavor already in the eggplant that you don’t need to do much else. It was simple, all came together in about 20 minutes, and oh so tasty. My favorite kind of meal.
Get in my belly!
