Szechuan Spicy Eggplant recipe (鱼香茄子) with cooking video – The stir fried crispy eggplant is cooked with a rich Szechuan spicy sweet and savory sauce.
Sichuan Eggplant Stir Fry (鱼香茄子)
PREP TIME
COOK TIME
TOTAL TIME
Author: Maggie Zhu
Recipe type: Main
Cuisine: Chinese
Serves: 2 to 3 servings
INGREDIENTS
- 2 (400 grams in total) eggplant, cut to 8-cm (3-inch) sticks (*Footnote 1)
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 cup cornstarch (to coat the eggplant)
Sauce
- 3 tablespoons Chinkiang vinegar
- 1 tablespoon light soy sauce (or soy sauce)
- 1 tablespoon dark soy sauce (or soy sauce)
- 1 tablespoon Shaoxing wine (or dry sherry)
- 2 tablespoons sugar
- 1/2 cup chicken stock (or vegetable stock)
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch
Cook
- 1/2 cup peanut oil (or vegetable oil)
- 2 teaspoons Sichuan peppercorn
- 4 green onions, chopped
- 3 tablespoons minced garlic (about 8 cloves garlic)
- 1 tablespoon minced ginger
- (Optional) 230 grams (1/2 pound) ground pork (*Footnote 2)
- 1 tablespoon dòubànjiàng (fermented chili bean paste)
INSTRUCTIONS
- Chop eggplant into long sticks of about 2-inch (5-cm) long and 1/4-inch (6-mm) thick.
- 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.
- 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 with with a thin layer of cornstarch.
- Add oil to a large nonstick skillet and heat over medium high heat until hot. Spread eggplant across the bottom of the skillet without overlapping (you might need to cook in 2 or 3 batches). Fry the eggplant one side at a time until all the surfaces are charred and the eggplant turns soft, 5 to 7 minutes. Transfer to a plate. Cook the remaining batch(es) with the same method. If the skillet gets too hot and starts to smoke, turn to medium heat.
- Once the eggplant is all cooked, remove the pan from the stove. Drain extra oil and only leave 1 tablespoon in the pan by pouring the oil into a heatproof bowl, or wipe the pan with a few layers of paper towels attached to the front end of a pair of tongs.
- Add the Sichuan peppercorns into the pan. Cook over medium heat until the peppercorns turn dark brown. Remove them with a spatula and transfer to a small bowl (*Footnote 3). Add green onion, garlic and ginger. Stir a few times to release fragrance.
- Add ground pork. Cook and stir until the surface is browned.
- 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.
- Turn to the lowest heat and taste the sauce (be careful, it will be very hot!) Adjust flavor by sprinkling a bit more salt or sugar, if needed. Turn to medium heat and mix well again. Transfer everything to a plate immediately.
- Serve hot over steamed rice as a main.
NOTES
1. You can either use long Asian eggplant or regular eggplant. If you follow the steps in this recipe, both eggplants will turn out perfectly crispy.
2. You can skip the pork to make a vegan dish and the sauce will still be very tasty.
3. The cooked Sichuan peppercorns become fragrant with a more rounded taste, so they make a great seasoning. Save the fried Sichuan peppercorns and grind them into powder. Store in an airtight container in the fridge for 1 month and use it in recipes that call for ground Sichuan peppercorns.
Source: Sichuan Eggplant Stir Fry (Yú Xiāng Eggplant, 鱼香茄子) | Omnivore’s Cookbook
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