Eggplant is a very tricky vegetable to cook. If you don’t season it properly, it will taste bitter or extremely plain. If you use too little oil, the texture will be mushy and create an awful mouthfeel. 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. 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: The second way is: The second method requires a bit more effort, but it saves a bit of time. Both ways yield great results.
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! Creating a good sauce is really easy. Just mix everything together and pour it over the eggplant at the end of cooking.
More delicious eggplant recipes
Szechuan spicy eggplant Steamed Eggplant in Nutty Sauce Crispy Eggplant with Szechuan Meat Sauce 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! If you give this recipe a try, let us know! Leave a comment, rate it (once you’ve tried it), take a picture and tag it @omnivorescookbook on Instagram! I’d love to see what you come up with.
