Sweet And Sour Chinese Eggplant Recipes

HOT AND SOUR CHINESE EGGPLANT

Steps:

• Place the eggplant cubes into a large bowl, and sprinkle with salt. Fill with enough water to cover, and let stand for 30 minutes. Rinse well, and drain on paper towels.
• In a small bowl, stir together the soy sauce, red wine vinegar, sugar, chile pepper, cornstarch and chili oil. Set the sauce aside.
• Heat the vegetable oil in a large skillet or wok over medium-high heat. Fry the eggplant until it is tender and begins to brown, 5 to 10 minutes. Pour in the sauce, and cook and stir until the sauce is thick and the eggplant is evenly coated. Serve immediately.

YU XIANG QIE ZI (SICHUAN EGGPLANT)

Steps:

• Roll cut washed eggplants into long strips (try to keep some skin on each one). Then soak the eggplant strips in salty water for around 15 minutes. Move out and drain. Coat with starch (optional but I recommend using since this helps the sauce attaching on the eggplants)
• Prepare a bowl; mix all the ingredients for stir fry sauce. Then set aside.
• Heat up 2 tablespoons of oil in wok or a pan and fry the eggplants until slightly browned by batches.
• Heat another 1 tablespoon of oil in wok, and fry mince pork until crisp and browned. Add doubanjiang and chopped pepper to continue cooking for 1 minute for red oil. Add garlic, chopped peppers, green onion white part and ginger to stir-fry for the aroma.
• Stir in the sauce. Cook for a while until the sauce is thickened. Mix well and make sure the eggplants are well coated.
• Move from wok, sprinkle chopped green onion! I highly recommend serving this with steamed rice. The magic sauce can turn plain steamed rice into something extremely delicious.

SICHUAN EGGPLANT STIR FRY (鱼香茄子)

Steps:

• Chop eggplant into long sticks of about 2-inch (5-cm) long and 1/4-inch (6-mm) thick.
• Place eggplant in a large bowl and add water to cover. Add 1 teaspoon salt, mix well. Place a pot lid on top to keep the eggplant under water for 15 minutes. Drain and pat dry.
• Add all the sauce ingredients into a bowl. Stir to mix well.
• Sprinkle eggplant with cornstarch and mix by hand, until eggplant is evenly coated with with a thin layer of cornstarch.
• Add oil to a large nonstick skillet and heat over medium high heat until hot. Spread eggplant across the bottom of the skillet without overlapping (you might need to cook in 2 or 3 batches). Fry the eggplant one side at a time until all the surfaces are charred and the eggplant turns soft, 5 to 7 minutes. Transfer to a plate. Cook the remaining batch(es) with the same method. If the skillet gets too hot and starts to smoke, turn to medium heat.
• Once the eggplant is all cooked, remove the pan from the stove. Drain extra oil and only leave 1 tablespoon in the pan by pouring the oil into a heatproof bowl, or wipe the pan with a few layers of paper towels attached to the front end of a pair of tongs.
• Add the Sichuan peppercorns into the pan. Cook over medium heat until the peppercorns turn dark brown. Remove them with a spatula and transfer to a small bowl (*Footnote 3). Add the pork. Cook and chop with your spatula, until separated into small bits and cooked through. Add green onion, garlic, ginger, and dried chili peppers. Stir a few times to release the fragrance.
• Stir the sauce again to completely dissolve the cornstarch, then pour into the pan. Stir until the sauce thickens. Return the eggplant to the pan and quickly stir to mix everything well.
• Turn to the lowest heat and taste the sauce (be careful, it will be very hot!) Adjust flavor by sprinkling a bit more salt or sugar, if needed. Turn to medium heat and mix well again. Transfer everything to a plate immediately.
• Serve hot over steamed rice as a main.

SWEET-AND-SOUR EGGPLANT

Steps:

• Cut eggplant into 1/2-inch cubes and transfer to a colander. Toss with 2 tablespoons sea salt. Let drain 1 hour.
• While eggplant drains, heat 2 tablespoons oil in a 4- to 5-quart heavy pot over moderately high heat until hot but not smoking, then sauté three fourths of garlic, stirring, until golden, about 1 minute. Add tomato paste and cook, stirring, 1 minute. Add tomatoes with their juice, then reduce heat and simmer, uncovered, stirring occasionally, until thickened, 20 to 25 minutes.
• Bring 3 cups salted water to a boil in a 1- to 1 1/2-quart saucepan, then cook celery until tender, 5 to 7 minutes. Drain in a colander and rinse under cold water to stop cooking.
• Gently squeeze eggplant to remove excess moisture and pat dry. Heat 1/4 inch oil (about 2 cups) in a 12-inch heavy skillet over moderately high heat until it registers 360°F on thermometer, then fry eggplant in 4 batches, stirring and turning constantly with a slotted spoon, until browned and tender, 3 to 5 minutes per batch. (Return oil to 360°F between batches.) Transfer to paper towels.
• Pour off all but 2 tablespoons oil from skillet, then reduce heat to moderate and cook onion, bell pepper, and remaining garlic, stirring occasionally, until golden, about 10 minutes. Add tomato sauce, eggplant, celery, olives, capers, vinegar, sugar, pepper, and remaining teaspoon sea salt and simmer, uncovered, stirring occasionally, 15 minutes. Cool to room temperature, uncovered, then chill, covered, at least 8 hours.
• Just before serving, stir in parsley and basil. Serve cold or at room temperature.

SWEET AND SOUR EGGPLANT WITH GARLIC CHIPS

Steps:

• Set a small sieve over a heatproof bowl. Combine garlic and oil in a medium skillet and heat over medium-low. Cook garlic until light golden brown and crisp and the bubbles have subsided, 3 to 4 minutes, then quickly strain the garlic chips into the sieve set over the bowl. Transfer the garlic chips to a paper towel-lined plate, season with kosher salt and set aside. Transfer the garlic oil back to the skillet.
• Heat the garlic oil over medium-high. Add the eggplant in batches, adding more as they shrink in size and space permits, and cook, stirring occasionally, until cut sides of eggplant are golden-brown and skins are slightly wrinkled, 6 to 8 minutes.
• Add the soy sauce, sugar, vinegar and red-pepper flakes and reduce the heat to medium-low. Simmer, tossing the eggplant to coat, until sauce thickens, 1 to 2 minutes. Serve topped with fresh herbs and garlic chips.