The Chinese eggplant is cooked until crispy and smoky using minimal oil, and then cooked in a rich savory garlic sauce. This vegan dish is very satisfying, both as a side or a main dish served over rice or noodles. {Gluten-Free Adaptable}
Eggplant is a very tricky vegetable to cook. If you don’t season it properly, it will taste bitter or extremely plain. If using too little oil, the texture will be mushy and create an awful mouthfeel. And if you use too much oil, the eggplant might turn soggy and greasy.
If you don’t like cooking eggplant at home, you probably have some of the worries below:
- Eggplant is quite time consuming to cook, compared to the average vegetable.
- You’ll end up eating more calories without getting an impressive flavor.
That is why I’m posting this Chinese eggplant recipe today, to help you to create a wonderful eggplant dish nearly effortlessly.
This recipe offers the simplest way to cook a great eggplant dish without using too much oil, and avoids soggy and plain eggplant with the minimum needed cooking time.
How to make the perfect eggplant dish
The secret to getting perfect Chinese style eggplant involves two things.
- You have to prepare the eggplant properly before cooking in order to get the right texture.
- You need to make a sauce that is flavorful enough.
To prepare the eggplant, there are two ways to do it.
Before introducing the first method, I want to thank my friend Steve S. He taught me this method quite a long time ago, to prevent the eggplant from absorbing oil.
The method is:
- Spread the sliced eggplant on a towel.
- Sprinkle Kosher salt on both surfaces of the sliced eggplant.
- Allow to rest for 15 minutes.
- Rinse the salt off the eggplant and pat each surface dry.
The second way is:
- Place the eggplant in a large bowl and add water to cover.
- Add 1/4 teaspoon salt, mix well.
- Place a pot lid on top to keep the eggplant under water for 15 minutes.
- Drain and pat dry
I personally prefer the second method. Because when soaking the eggplant in the water, it also preserve the white color of the eggplant and prevent it from oxidizing and turning brown.
Once you’ve finished either of the methods above, there is one more step – after the eggplant is completely dry, sprinkle cornstarch over it and mix by hand, until the eggplant is evenly coated with a thin layer of cornstarch.
Using this method, you can create crispy and nicely charred eggplant on the stovetop in 10 minutes. No need to turn on the oven to get the smoky flavor!
Garlic sauce ingredients
Creating a good sauce is really easy and you only need these ingredients:
- Light soy sauce
- Dark soy sauce: dark soy sauce add a beautiful dark brown color to the dish and a hint of caramel taste.
- Sugar: the sugar balance out the salty ingredients for a more roundup sauce.
- Cornstarch: the cornstarch acts as a thicker to thicken the sauce.
Just mix everything together and pour it over the eggplant at the end of cooking.
Mix en place
It’s important to have all of your ingredients prepped and ready before starting the stir fry. Your table should have:
- Eggplant, sliced, prepared according to either of the two methods listed above, and coated with cornstarch
- Mixed sauce
- Aromatics, chopped (ginger, garlic)
How to cook Chinese eggplant with garlic sauce
1. Pan frying the eggplant until golden on the surface, and the inside has turned tender. Transfer the eggplant to a plate. This step is crucial to keep the eggplant crispy.
2. Saute the aromatics.
3. Add back the eggplant and add the mixed sauce. The sauce will thicken up immediately. And the dish is done!
This recipe only uses enough sauce to coat the eggplant to keep the eggplant pieces crispy.
More delicious eggplant recipes
- Yu Xiang Eggplant (鱼香茄子, Sichuan Eggplant Stir Fry)
- Steamed Eggplant in Nutty Sauce
- Spicy Eggplant Salad (凉拌茄子)
- Di San Xian (Fried Potato, Eggplant and Pepper in Garlic Sauce 地三鲜)
- Grilled Eggplant with Yu Xiang Sauce (鱼香烤茄子)
Happy cooking and hope you enjoy the dish!
Chinese Eggplant with Garlic Sauce (红烧茄子)
Ingredients
- 10 oz (283 g) Chinese eggplant (about 2 small eggplant) , chopped to bite-size pieces (*Footnote 1)
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch
Sauce (*footnote 2)
- 1 tablespoon light soy sauce (or soy sauce)
- 1 tablespoon water
- 1/2 teaspoon dark soy sauce (*see footnote 3)
- 2 teaspoons sugar
- 1 teaspoon cornstarch
Stir-fry
- 2 1/2 tablespoons peanut oil (or vegetable oil)
- 1 teaspoon ginger , minced
- 3 cloves garlic , chopped
Instructions
- (Option 1) 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.
- (Option 2) Spread the sliced eggplant out on a paper towel. Sprinkle Kosher salt on both sides of the eggplant slices. Allow to rest for 15 minutes. Rinse with running tap water to wash off the salt, then pat dry thoroughly.
- Combine the sauce ingredients in a small bowl, mix well.
- Sprinkle eggplant with 1 tablespoon cornstarch and mix by hand, until eggplant is evenly coated with with a thin layer of cornstarch.
- Add 2 tablespoons oil to a big nonstick skillet and heat over medium high heat until hot. Spread eggplant across the bottom of the skillet without overlapping. Cook the eggplant one side at a time until all the surfaces are charred and the eggplant turns soft, 8 to 10 minutes in total. Transfer the eggplants to a plate. If the skillet gets too hot and starts to smoke, turn to medium heat.
- Add the remaining 1/2 teaspoon oil, the ginger and garlic into the same skillet. Stir a few times until fragrant. Add all the eggplant back into the skillet. Mix the sauce again until cornstarch is fully dissolved and pour it over the eggplant. Immediately stir a few times, until the eggplant is evenly coated and the sauce thickens. Transfer everything to a big plate.
- Serve hot as a side or as main over steamed rice or noodles.
Notes
- You can use other type of eggplant and still generate crispy texture if following the method in this recipe. However, Asian long eggplant is the best option.
- This recipe uses very little sauce, just enough to coat the eggplant and make it tastes super flavorful. The rich sauce helps to keep the eggplant staying crispy. Be careful, the sauce will reduce very quickly once you add it to the pan. Stir immediately to coat the eggplant.
- The dark soy sauce will add color to the dish and make it look more appetizing. You can skip it if you don’t have any in your pantry.
Hi Maggie! WOW! So yummy! Love that it is made with minimal oil. And so happy to learn that you have made my hometown NYC your home as well!
Love this receipe. Question.. if i am doubling the sauce ingredients, do inalso double the ginger and garlic?
You don’t need to double the ginger and garlic. When you use more sauce, the eggplant will get a bit softer and won’t be as crispy but still delicous.
Just had this for dinner with rice and a side of stir fried veggies. So nice! I often cook aubergine in my air fryer, that uses even less oil. Think I’ll try it that way next time. Thank you for the lovely recipe.
Quick question when do you chop the eggplant?Before or after one of the methods?TY in advance
You should cut the eggplant first. Happy cooking!
Easy! Quick! Tasty! I added deep fried gyoza for a crunchy texture making it a hearty main dish.
Can you add ground chicken to this dish? If so, any adjustments to be made – like to the sauce?
Yes you can! Depending on the amount of ground chicken you use, you might want to increase the sauce. If you only use a very small amount of ground chicken to add flavor, say, less than 4 oz, then you can lightly salt the chicken and follow the recipe. If you use more chicken, 8 oz or so, I would definitely double the sauce.
I had tons of Japanese eggplants from my garden and I must have made this 5 times. Amazing recipe and technique.
So yummy. A high rotation recipe in our house. Thank you so much.
Easy and not a lot of prep
I’m impressed with the recipe.
I followed step one and it turned out perfect. Flavors melded together. Will definitely make this again.
Hi can you make this recipe a couple hours before serving?
If it’s possible, I would pan fry the egg plant, mix the sauce, and get everything ready. Right before serving, quickly heat up the eggplant in the pan again and cook with the sauce.
But if you’re bring the dish to a dinner, I would just cook everything and gently warm the eggplant up in the oven. It won’t be as crispy but the eggplant will still be tasty.
This is a great easy and tasty recipe! Thanks for the tip on how to make the eggplant crispier!!
My favourite eggplant recipe. So tasty and nourishing. Thank you.
Since I wasn’t sure if the recipe would turn out the way I had hoped I only used one eggplant, trying to make a small batch. I wish I had made 2 as the recipe says! It was soooo good. I doubled the sauce recipe since when I had a similiar dish at a restaurant had a lot of sauce. Delicious, I will definitely make this again…probably tomorrow!
The first method left the eggplant too salty to eat. I’m trying the other method this time. The sauce was perfect!
I used the water and salt and it came out perfect!
You say “2 (10 oz. / 300 g) small Chinese long eggplant”.
That means 10 oz. total, right? (A single 10 oz eggplant wouldn’t be “small” — mine are 6 oz after trimming and already seem medium.)
But then your slider isn’t working right. When I double the recipe, it says “4 (10 oz. / 300 g) small Chinese long eggplant”. Do you need to tell your slider to scale the number of ounces too?
(Also, when I double the recipe, it changes from “Servings: 2 to 4” to “Servings: 4 to 4” — maybe make that “4 to 8”?)
Yes, the 10 oz is the total amount.
And sorry for the scaling slider issue. Currently the website didn’t build for scaling the number for both grams and the pounds. I’m working with someone on this now but it will take time to implement it (I need to re-enter all the numbers for 800+ recipes manually).
Omg I can’t believe how good this was. Better than in a restaurant.
Awesome recipe!
Have made this twice and its so addictive. I didnt know what to do with all the eggplant i grew in the yard and this was killer. I substituted canola oil for peanut oil as i thought the peanut oil was too strong a taste. I added sesame oil to the sauce instead.