Yu Xiang Eggplant (鱼香茄子, Sichuan Eggplant Stir Fry)
Xu Xiang eggplant features crispy eggplant covered in a sticky sweet, sour, savory and slightly spicy sauce. A signature Sichuan dish that turns eggplant haters into eggplant lovers. {Vegetarian Vegan Adaptable, Gluten-Free Adaptable}To make the dish gluten-free, use tamari to replace the soy sauce, and use dry sherry instead of Shaoxing wine. Replace the Chinkiang vinegar with rice vinegar (this will alter the taste of the dish, but it should still be delicious).
Servings: 2 to 4 ervings
Ingredients
- 2 (400 g) Chinese eggplant , cut to bite-sized pieces (or regular eggplant) (*Footnote 1)
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 2 teaspoons cornstarch (to coat the eggplant)
Sauce
- 2 tablespoons Chinkiang vinegar
- 1 1/2 tablespoons light soy sauce (or soy sauce)
- 1 tablespoon Shaoxing wine (or dry sherry)
- 2 tablespoons sugar
- 1/4 cup chicken stock (or vegetable stock)
- 2 teaspoons cornstarch
Cook
- 3 tablespoons peanut oil (or vegetable oil)
- 4 oz (110 g) ground pork (or chicken) (*Footnote 2) (Optional)
- 2 green onions , sliced
- 2 cloves garlic , minced
- 1 tablespoon ginger , minced
- 8 to 10 dried Chinese chili peppers
- 2 teaspoons doubanjiang
- 1/4 teaspoon ground Sichuan peppercorn (Optional)
Instructions
- Place eggplant in a large bowl and add water to cover. Add 1 teaspoon salt, mix well. Place a plate on top so the eggplant pieces are submerged in the water. Let sit for 10 to 15 minutes while preparing the other ingredients. Once done, drain and pat dry with paper towels.
- 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.
- Add 2 tablespoons of the oil to a large skillet and heat over medium-high heat until hot. Spread eggplant across the bottom of the skillet without overlapping. Cook the eggplant, stirring occasionally, until the edge of the eggplant is lightly charred and the texture just starts to soften, 5 minutes or so. Transfer to a plate. If the skillet gets too hot and starts to smoke, turn to medium heat.
- Add the remaining 1 tablespoon of oil and the ground meat. Cook and chop the pork into smaller pieces, until fully cooked.
- Add green onion, garlic, ginger and chili pepper. Stir a few times to release fragrance.
- Add the doubanjiang and Sichuan peppercorns. Stir and cook until the pork is evenly coated.
- 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. Serve hot as a main dish or side dish.
Notes
- Long Asian eggplant (Chinese or Japanese eggplant) works the best and the soaking step can be skipped if you are using one of those two kinds. You can use regular Western eggplant instead. But make sure you use the salt soaking method if using regular eggplant.
- You can skip the ground meat to make a vegan dish and the sauce will still be very tasty.
Nutrition
Serving: 1serving, Calories: 205kcal, Carbohydrates: 19.2g, Protein: 7.4g, Fat: 11.2g, Saturated Fat: 2g, Cholesterol: 16mg, Sodium: 460mg, Potassium: 377mg, Fiber: 4.2g, Sugar: 10.8g, Calcium: 22mg, Iron: 1mg