Salting the eggplant is not about seasoning. Ten minutes of salt draws out the water that would otherwise steam the pieces soft and grey, and squeezing them dry afterwards is what lets them take on colour in the pan instead of soaking up half the bottle of oil. Three spoons of light soy carry the rest.
Chinese · Main
Minced Pork Eggplant With Garlic and Bird's Eye Chili
Eggplant batons are salted for ten minutes, rinsed and squeezed dry so they drink less oil, then fried hard with minced pork, garlic and chili.
- Prep20 min
- Cook12 min
- Serves3
- LevelEasy
Ingredients
| 3 | long eggplants , cut into batons |
| 100 g | minced pork |
| 5 cloves | garlic , chopped |
| 6 | bird's eye chilies , sliced |
| 1 | scallion , cut into lengths |
| 3 tbsp | light soy sauce |
| to taste | mushroom seasoning powder |
| to taste | salt |
| as much as needed | cooking oil |
Method
- Cut the eggplants into lengths, then into batons, put them in a bowl and toss with salt until every piece is coated.
- Leave them for 10 minutes, then rinse three or four times under running water and squeeze the water out by hand.
- Slice the chilies, chop the garlic and cut the scallion into short lengths.
- Heat oil in a wok, add the minced pork and break it up until it is dry and lightly browned.
- Add the garlic and chili and fry until fragrant.
- Add the eggplant and stir-fry over high heat for 3 minutes.
- Pour in the light soy and add the mushroom seasoning, then keep tossing over high heat for another 3 to 4 minutes, until the eggplant is soft and glossy.
- Scatter the scallion over the top, toss once and turn it out onto a plate.
Notes
- Squeeze the eggplant properly. Water left in the flesh turns the dish into a stew and dilutes the soy.
- Keep the heat high once the eggplant goes in. Lower heat makes it absorb oil and collapse.
- Six chilies is genuinely hot. Halve them and the dish still reads as spicy.
Ratios and technique checked against 大菜炒不来 on Douguo (肉沫茄子). The method here is written by Stellaok; the photograph is the source kitchen's, credited on the image above and linked back to the page it came from. No recipe text is reproduced.