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.
This was my first time cooking eggplant and I followed the tip on soaking it and it turned out so well! Every recipe of yours I’ve tried always works wonderfully 🙂
Another winner from you.
I am not a fan of eggplant yet I find this dish addictive.
Thank you for all your great postings!!!
Excellent.
This is hands down the best eggplant recipe I have made. The only thing I added was toasted sesame seeds after it was cooked. I served it with steam broccoli and roasted Szechuan asparagus.
Turned out just how I hoped. Yum.
Very easy recipe with excellent results! I cut the eggplant in long vertical strips instead of smaller pieces and it turned out extremely well that way. Thanks so much !
This was absolutely delicious! I threw in a handful of tiny bay scallops with the ginger and onions and we ate it over rice as the main course. I also really appreciated the eggplant “tricks” to pretreat before cooking, including the cornstarch dusting. A question: to make it a little more saucy next time. I thought about just doubling or tripling the sauce, but was afraid it would make it too salty? I already found some of the eggplant pieces a little salty after toweling off the salt during the pre-cooking treatment (next time, I’m going to try the pre-soak treatment). I added a splash of chicken broth instead. Wonderful! Can’t wait to try more eggplant recipes as I currently have a garden abundance. Thanks!
Hi Rayann, I’m glad to hear you like the recipe! The eggplant will be less salty if you use the water bath method.
As for the sauce, you can double it without issue (if using the water bath method to prepare it). If you’re still worried, use 1/4 cup chicken broth with 1 teaspoon cornstarch to dilute it.
first time I made Chinese Eggplant following your recipe (tweeted little w/more garlic, less sugar), was a big success… Yujing will expect this again at dinner very soon 😋
My absolute favorite take out item!! No more, making it at home!!! Thank you!!!!!
Maggie…..I’m going to make this tonight to go on the side with some spice MaPo Tofu…..Love that photo of your small NYC kitchen and the photo of you in torn jeans from a few years ago. Gorgeous!
Hi Maggie…..made this last night and it was excellent. Thanks for the salt/soaking technique which I used. In the past I have just coated the eggplant with cornstarch but it is the soaking in salt water that is KEY to keeping the shape/texture and integrity of the eggplant together. To think that for years I never used the salting method and it was always a bit mushy. Thanks again for this tip…..and you are gorgeous!
Maggie, every recipe that I have tried has exceeded my expectations. I was about to give up cooking Chinese and then found you and your website. I have probably made this at least half a dozen times in the past two months. You have inspired me. Thank you.
Followed the recipe almost to the “T”, but didn’t have chilis so substituted Korean gochujang for the spicy addition. The dish came out excellent. Thanks for the recipe.
This was truly delicious! Directions were easy to follow and the pictures confirmed any doubt. Thank you !
easy to follow recipe and turned out delicious!
highly recommend
Thank you-wonderful recipe!
This recipe is incredible!! I love love love how the eggplant came out!
Yum!! Love eggplant! Found this recipe and my husband made it. Used two eggplants……we ate it all in one sitting. Thanks !
LOVE this recipe!
During the initial prepping of the great deal I got from the farmer’s market, 5 lb of Chinese eggplant (19 pcs) for $1.99, I thought this is going to be a bear, and I will only do this one time.
It took me one and half hour from prep to finish. Since I like the crunchiness from Step 5, I can’t stop eating it. So I purposely left a batch aside. Then I continue to cook and use Lee Kum Kee Black Bean Garlic Sauce. When it is almost done, I forgot I have saved some cooked ground pork n beef with green onions for this dish.
So I put half of it away, n add the ground meat to the remaining eggplant.
All three are delicious and will definitely spend the extra time to prep the eggplant!VE this recipe!
During the initial prepping of the great deal I got from the farmer’s market, 5 lb of Asian long eggplant (19 pcs) for $1.99, I thought this is going to be a bear, and I will only do this one time.
It took me one and half hour from prep to finish. Since I like the crunchiness from Step 5, I can’t stop eating it. So I purposely left a batch aside. Then I continue to cook and use Lee Kum Kee Black Bean Garlic Sauce. When it is almost done, I forgot I have saved some cooked ground pork n beef with green onions for this dish.
So I put half of it away, n add the ground meat to the remaining eggplant.
All three are delicious and will definitely spend the extra time to prep the eggplant!
Thank you for this recipe…question I have frozen eggplant, can I use that too