Mapo Eggplant (麻婆茄子)

One of my favorite dishes is mapo tofu, but I absolutely love making that same mapo sauce to go with eggplant for mapo eggplant. 

I’ll admit, mapo eggplant is not the prettiest dish out there but it is full of flavor and uses a classic mapo sauce that envelops the tender eggplant in a savory, spicy, and fragrant way. Don’t let the ingredient list scare you off… You likely have most of it in your pantry and it really takes no time at all to make. 

It’s the perfect one-bowl dinner. Mapo eggplant is wonderful over hot steamed rice or even atop noodles. It’s that sauce. It makes everything good!

Ingredients

Doubanjiang

A crucial aspect of authentic tasting mapo sauce is doubanjiang, a spicy fermented bean paste. You can’t skip this because it’s what makes the mapo sauce. It’s got a strong fermented taste that’s very salty and spicy. Depending on the brand, it can vary. If you can find it, look for Pixian Broad Bean Paste which is my personal favorite. You’ll find it at your local Asian supermarket or on Amazon. If you are looking for a premium product, check out the 3-Year Fermented Pixian Douanjiang from The Mala Market. It’s made by hand in small batches using the traditional method, and it has a deeper and richer flavor.

Sichuan peppercorns

Sichuan peppercorns are another key element in any mapo sauce. These are a bit citrusy and incredibly aromatic, and they have a numbing effect when you bite into them. I highly recommend the Sichuan peppercorns from The Mala Market, which are some of the freshest I have found anywhere.

Aromatics

A great mapo eggplant uses fresh ginger, garlic, and green onions as the aromatics that give it plenty of fragrance and flavor. You can skip one of them if you don’t have them all, and simply increase the amount of the aromatics you do have.

Vegetarian & vegan adaptable

While this mapo eggplant recipe calls for ground meat (be it pork, beef, chicken or turkey), you can leave it out for a vegetarian or vegan meal. I did use chicken stock but you can replace that with vegetable broth or even water to make it friendly for meatless meals.

If you are going in the meatless direction though, I recommend replacing the meat with 1/2 lb (225 g) chopped mushrooms to give it more dimension and a meaty texture without using any meat. Don’t like mushrooms? Then just leave them out. It will still taste amazing!

Cooking process

When you’re ready to cook, your table should have the ingredients below.

1. Saute the Sichuan peppercorns in oil to infuse the oil 
2. Brown the ground meat and doubanjiang
3. Break apart the ground meat. Do not overcook
4. Add the aromatics
5. Add the eggplant, broth, and rest of the seasonings
6. Cook until the eggplant turns tender 
7. Serve!

Once you try the dish, you’ll be surprised how easy it is to cook it and how addictive it tastes!

Grab some fresh eggplant and try mapo eggplant for dinner tonight. You’ll have it done faster than delivery would take to arrive!

Want to learn more about Chinese Cooking? Sign up my newsletter to receive the 5-Day Chinese Cooking Crash Course and recipe update!

Mapo Eggplant (麻婆茄子)

By Maggie Zhu

4.96 from 21 votes

Prep Time: 20 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 15 minutes minutes

Total Time: 35 minutes minutes

Servings: 4 servings

0.5x1x2x3x

Save RecipeSaved Recipe Print

Full of flavor, mapo eggplant is richly savory, spicy, and fragrant, not to mention quick and easy for any night you want a hearty and healthy Chinese dish. {Vegan-Adaptable}

Ingredients 

US CustomaryMetric

• 1 lb Chinese eggplants (about 2 small) , cut into bite-sized pieces(*Footnote 1)

Braising

• 1 tablespoon peanut oil (or vegetable oil)
• 2 teaspoons Sichuan peppercorns
• 8 oz ground chicken (*Footnote 2)
• 1 1/2 to 2 tablespoons doubanjiang (*Footnote 3)
• 4 green onions , sliced with some green part reserved for garnish
• 2 cloves garlic , minced
• 1 ” ginger , minced
• 1 tablespoon Shaoxing wine (or dry sherry)
• 1 cup chicken stock (or water)
• 1 tablespoon homemade chili oil
• 2 teaspoons soy sauce
• 2 teaspoons sugar

Slurry

• 1 tablespoon cornstarch
• 2 tablespoons water

Cook ModePrevent your screen from going dark

Instructions

• Add the oil and sichuan peppercorns to a large skillet and cook over medium heat. Let the peppercorns cook until they are fragrant and turn brown, about 5 minutes. Remove the peppercorns using a spatula without removing the oil, and transfer them into a small bowl. (*Footnote 4)
• Add the ground chicken and spread it across the pan. Top with the doubanjiang. Let the chicken cook for 30 seconds to 1 minute until the bottom turns golden. Stir with the doubanjiang and cook until the chicken is almost cooked through, 1 to 2 minutes.
• Add the green onions, ginger, and garlic. Continue cooking for another 30 seconds to a minute to release the fragrance.
• Pour in the Shaoxing wine. Immediately use your spatula to scrape off any browned bits from the pan.
• Add the eggplant, stock, chili oil, soy sauce, and sugar. Stir gently to incorporate everything. Bring to a boil, then cover. Simmer over medium-low heat until the eggplant is cooked through, about 7 minutes. Carefully taste one piece of eggplant to make sure it reaches your desired texture. Let cook a bit longer if needed.
• Mix together the cornstarch and water together in a small bowl and stir until fully dissolved. Drizzle over the sauce and turn the heat back to medium. Stir constantly and cook until the sauce has thickened. Transfer everything to a serving plate. Garnish with the reserved green onion, if using.
• Enjoy hot as a main dish over steamed rice or boiled noodles.

Ingredient Substitution Guide

Notes

1. Asian eggplant has the best texture for this dish. You can use other types of eggplant as well.
2. Other ground meat (pork, beef, turkey) works great as well. To make this dish vegan, use 1/2 pound (225 g) white mushrooms and chop them into small pieces or simply skip the meat.
3. The brand of doubanjiang you use will affect the salt and spice level of the dish. If you’re unsure, start with 1 1/2 tablespoons and add more at the end of the dish.
4. The cooked Sichuan peppercorns are delicious. You can coarsely grind them (using a coffee grinder or mortar and pestle), and use them as a salad or noodle topping or garnish this dish with them at the end of the cooking if you’d like more Sichuan peppercorn flavor. You can also discard them if you do not wish to re-use them.

Nutrition

Serving: 1serving, Calories: 218kcal, Carbohydrates: 16.2g, Protein: 14.2g, Fat: 11.3g, Saturated Fat: 2g, Cholesterol: 40mg, Sodium: 289mg, Potassium: 394mg, Fiber: 4.3g, Sugar: 8g, Calcium: 29mg, Iron: 1mg

Have a question or feedback? Add a Comment

Did you make this? I want to see! Tag @OmnivoresCookbook on Instagram, and rate the recipe below.

If you give this recipe a try, let us know! Leave a comment, rate it (once you’ve tried it), and take a picture and tag it @omnivorescookbook on Instagram! I’d love to see what you come up with.

Other delicious Sichuan recipes

• Chinese Pickled Peppers (Quick Pickled Pao Jiao)
• Sichuan Roasted Whole Chicken 
• Chinese Bang Bang Chicken (棒棒鸡)
• Real-Deal Szechuan Beef Stir Fry
• Sichuan Eggplant Stir Fry
• Sichuan Dry Fried Green Beans (干煸四季豆)

Lilja Walter is a part of the Omnivore’s Cookbook team and worked closely with Maggie to develop and test this recipe.