The only tricky part to making Eggplant in Garlic Sauce comes when it's time to cook the eggplant. If you've ever fried eggplant, you'll know it loves to soak up oil! To get around this problem, in this recipe the eggplant is partially cooked in boiling water before being added to the pork and seasonings in the wok. However, I’ve included instructions for stir-frying the eggplant if you want to prepare it in a more traditional way.
Here are the ingredients you'll need to make Braised Eggplant in Garlic Sauce:
- 2 medium Chinese eggplant (about 10 - 11 ounces)
- 2 teaspoons minced garlic
- 1 teaspoon minced ginger
- 1 green onion (spring onion, scallion) white and green parts, finely chopped
- Sauce:
- 1 1/2 TB (4 1/2 tsp) dark soy sauce
- 1 1/2 TB (4 1/2 tsp) light soy sauce
- 1 TB Chinese rice vinegar (traditionally black rice vinegar, or you can use balsamic vinegar or Chinese red rice vinegar)
- 1 TB Chinese rice wine or dry sherry
- 1/2 teaspoon granulated sugar
- 1/3 cup chicken broth
Other: - 3 – 4 TB ground pork (no more than 1/4 cup)
- Black pepper, pinch
- 1/4 tsp cornstarch
- 1 TB vegetable or peanut oil for stir-frying
- 1 TB chili garlic sauce
- 1 tsp. cornstarch mixed with 1 TB water
