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.
I love this recipe and return to it over and over when I want eggplant. Will try the steamed eggplant you had last week next.
I cannot wait to try this recipe!!! From the comments, this seems to be a crowd favorite!
Quick question: do you ever choose to remove the skin on the eggplant? Does that make a difference in cooking style, time, etc?
Thank you!! So excited to try.
Hi Emily, I wouldn’t remove the skin if I use the long Asian eggplants, because the skin is thin and it’s very tasty.
If I use a large American eggplant, sometimes I would partially remove the skin to get a better texture.
It doesn’t make a difference in cooking time etc.
Love this recipe!
Everyone loved it. Kids included
Because of quarantine, I’m learning how to cook and I’ve stocked up on veggies. Will give this recipe a try! Looks delicious! A question, do you think I can use oyster sauce as “dark soy sauce”? I have ordinary supermarket soy sauce as well.
Yes I think you can! Happy cooking 🙂
I just tried it! We didn’t have cornstarch, so the sauce wasn’t as thick, and I used oyster sauce instead of dark soy sauce. Very delicious!! Super favorful, my mom and I finished lunch in 5 mins haha. Will definitely do this again! Also, I’m just learning how to cook, so bonus points for the easiness of this while still coming out very tasty.
I really enjoyed this dish, it was so good! Simple to make and very tasty, I also like that not much oil is used. If you soak the eggplant in water, it won’t absorb the oil. Thank you!
Delicious!!!
This recipe was a walk-off homerun. Delish & very simple. I would like it sweeter to taste & make it spicy. If I more sugar & pepper or pepper flakes, will that do the trick?
Yes, I can more sugar and pepper (fresh or flakes) is the way to go!
I just made this and it was delicious! Thank you and please share more vegan Chinese recipes! 🙂
This was the best eggplant I’ve ever had, even better than my mom’s version (and she is the most amazing cook I know). Thank you!!
It was delicious. We loved the garlic eggplant. No leftovers. Every bite gone
My 2nd successful chinese dish thanks to you, Maggie!
My wife, from Beijing, and a teenager, from Shanghai commented their approval as they finished the entire dish.
I took care to not burn anything-your recipe and descriptions are perfect.
As my pairings I made simple flour/water bun fried with broad leaf (grass like) chive/eggs/bacon filling with white and yellow rice congee.
I didn’t have asian eggplants but I tried it anyways and GLAD i did! It was so delicious, instead of sugar I used honey and only had dark sory sauce. Threw some toasted sesame seeds and scallions in the end. Plated it with baby spinach and brown rice. Will be saving this recipe! Thanks 🙂
Really amazing recipe–my favorite Asian eggplant recipe by far! I soaked the cut up eggplant in salted water for1 hour and then drained and dried the pieces before following this recipe…I’d learned this trick from another chef. It keeps the eggplant moist and plump. Then I followed all of the steps here. The cornstarch made for a luxuriously beautiful, light dish which was a revelation as eggplant has a tendency to soak up so much oil. Not in this case! The texture and flavors were spectacular–by far, the best preparation I’ve come across. This recipe will absolutely be my go-to recipe for Chinese eggplant.
My absolute favorite thing for take out!!! So happy to know how to do it properly at home!!!!
I made this and it was soooo delicious!! I added mushrooms and then added tofu I’d tossed in the wok ahead of time to make a meal out of it. I increased the sauce. I find the process of charring the eggplant really well and the mushrooms is key to the rich, smoky flavour. Wow! Thanks for the recipe.
Better than our favorite restaurant.
2nd time I made it. Big difference.
Lower heat, longer cooking. Resulted in less char and the eggplant ‘releasing’ more than my 1st time.
So easy and so delicious. Thx for that super easy recipe.
Mmmm! Even the kids really liked it. Next time I may double the sauce
This was super…what a hit! I saved half to make tomorrow so I can have another great dinner! I didn’t change anything and the eggplant had great texture & flavor. Sharing. Thank you!