Eggplant drinks oil, so this recipe never lets it. A ten minute salting pulls out the water that would otherwise dilute the sauce, and two spoons of starch on the squeezed pieces form a thin jacket that turns silky in the pan instead of greasy. The sauce goes in only after the eggplant has already collapsed into softness.
Home-style · Main
Red Braised Eggplant Without the Oil Bath
Salted, squeezed and starch coated eggplant blocks fry soft in a modest amount of oil, then take on a garlic chili sauce that reduces into a dark red glaze.
- Prep20 min
- Cook15 min
- Serves3
- LevelEasy
Ingredients
| 2 | eggplants , cut into irregular roll cut chunks |
| 1 tsp | minced garlic |
| 3 | bird's eye chilies |
| 2 tbsp | light soy sauce |
| 1 tbsp | oyster sauce |
| 1 tbsp | sugar |
| a dash | dark soy sauce , for color |
| a pinch | salt , for the salting step |
| 2 tbsp | cornstarch |
| half a bowl | warm water , for the sauce |
| scallions | chopped, for finishing |
Method
- Toss the eggplant chunks with a little salt and let them sit for 10 minutes.
- Meanwhile stir the garlic, chilies, dark soy, light soy, oyster sauce, sugar and warm water into the sauce and set it aside.
- Squeeze the salted eggplant firmly to expel the water that has risen to the surface.
- Coat the squeezed pieces evenly with the starch.
- Fry the eggplant in oil over medium heat, turning, until the chunks have softened and gone translucent at the edges.
- Pour in the sauce and let it bubble down until it clings to the eggplant in a dark glaze.
- Scatter the scallions just before the pan leaves the heat.
Notes
- The salting and squeezing steps are what keep the dish from turning oily; do not shorten them.
- The sauce is built warm so the starch and sugar dissolve before they ever hit the pan.
- If the glaze thickens too fast, loosen it with a spoon of water rather than more oil.
Ratios and technique checked against 果妈私房菜 on Douguo (红烧茄子). 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.