Chinese Eggplant In Garlic Sauce
If you love eggplant, then you are going to be in awe after you have read this post! Today I am going to share a unique, delicious, stir-fry style eggplant recipe with you. It is simple, tasteful, and a perfect way to satisfy your eggplant craving.
Chinese Eggplant In Garlic Sauce is a famous and traditional dish that has its roots in Szechuan Cuisine. The cuisine is known for its heat and use of garlic. This garlic eggplant recipe is not only easy to make, but it is also very delicious. Try this recipe once, and you will keep coming back to it. That’s for sure!
What is Chinese eggplant in garlic sauce?
Chinese eggplant in garlic sauce is a famous Szechuan dish. This dish is incredibly delicious. The reason behind its unique taste is the cooking technique and the use of garlic and spices.
It is a type of stir fry that has a unique flavor. It is a perfect balance of sweet and sour. Plus, the texture you get from the fried eggplant lifts the whole dish.
Apart from the eggplant, the highlight of this garlic eggplant recipe is the garlic sauce. It is a combination of different flavors. The addition of cornstarch mixture along with molasses gives it a complexity of flavor that binds every ingredient together perfectly well.
What is the difference between eggplant and Chinese eggplant?
Eggplant has a unique, delicate flavor that sets it apart from the rest of the vegetable. There are several types of eggplants. But the most widely loved type is the Chinese eggplant. If you are wondering how Chinese eggplants are different from the rest, let me tell you how you can differentiate them:
- First of all, Chinese eggplants have a lighter shade of purple. So, you can easily distinguish them from the rest.
- These are longer in shape and are thinner.
- Chinese eggplant has a thinner skin. It won’t be hard to peel at all. In fact, because of the thin skin, it is easy to fry them in the wok for the preparation of garlic eggplants.
- Thirdly, Chinese eggplant has few seeds.
- Lastly, Chinese eggplants are not bitter in taste. As a result, they have a more “eggplant” delicate flavor without any overpowering bitterness.
What does soaking eggplant in saltwater do?
Soaking eggplant in saltwater has its benefits. For one, most people don’t prefer eggplants for their bitter taste. As you cut eggplant and soak it in salty water, it sucks out the bitterness leaving the eggplant with a better flavor profile. Furthermore, soaking it in saltwater also firms up up the eggplant flesh. As a result, as you fry it in oil, it won’t soak up a lot of oil and get soggy. Lastly, salt adds more flavor to the eggplant.
How do you prepare garlic eggplant?
- Preparing Garlic eggplant is super easy. Firstly, you have to cut the eggplants into strips and set them aside. If you are choosing to cook with regular eggplant (not Chinese), you can soak them in saltwater so that the bitterness is reduced and they are nice and firm.
- Next, you have to fry them in the wok. You can also choose to sauté them in a non-stick pan.
- As you get golden-brown color, scoop them out and set them aside. Next, add garlic, ginger, bell peppers, and spring onion, and sauté.
- Return the eggplants and pout over the prepared mixture.
- Cook until the sauce thickens. Season with salt and delicious Chinese eggplant in garlic sauce is ready to serve.
- Traditionally this dish is prepared by deep-frying the eggplant strips, but I sauteed mine in less oil in a non-stick skillet.Â
How to serve Eggplant In Garlic Sauce?
You can serve eggplant in garlic sauce in a variety of ways. As much as it tastes delicious alone, you can serve it with rice or noodles. Furthermore, you can also pair it up with tofu. Whatever you choose to serve it with, this stir-fry has a unique taste that complements everything.
- Brown Rice
- Turmeric Coconut Rice
- Peanut Noodle
- Oven Baked Potato Wedges
- Instant Pot Spaghetti Squash
Note:
- You can find Chinese eggplants in Asian supermarkets. However, if you don’t find them, you can use regular eggplants.
- Soaking in salt is also optional, and you can totally skip the process.
- Traditionally, eggplants are deep-fried, which requires a lot of oil. If you wish to cut down oil, you can simply sauté them in a non-stick pan with a little oil. The main aim is to get a nice golden-brown color on the eggplant strips. Also, if you are to skip oil altogether, you can roast them in the oven.
Other Asian Style Dishes To Try
- General Tso’s Chickpeas
- Easy Fried Rice
- General Tso’s Tofu
- Japchae Korean Stir-Fried Noodles
- Chinese Almond Cookies
Other Eggplant Recipes To Prepare
- Eggplant Parmesan
- Baby Eggplant Coconut Curry
- Jamaican Style Eggplant Curry
- Vegan Stuffed Eggplant
- Eggplant Stew
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Chinese Eggplant In Garlic Sauce
Equipment
Ingredients
- 2 medium Chinese eggplants
For The Sauce
- 1/2 cup vegetable broth
- 3 tablespoons Bragg liquid aminos or soy sauce
- 2 tablespoons organic cane sugar
- 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
- 1 teaspoon molasses
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch or tapioca starch
- 1/4 teaspoon Cayenne pepper
For The Eggplant
- 2 tablespoons vegetable oil ( I used grape seed oil)
- 4 cloves garlic minced
- 1 teaspoon ginger grated
- 2 spring onions finely chopped
- 1/4 cup red bell pepper cut into strips
- Salt to taste
Instructions
- Cut eggplants into strips and set aside. Prepare sauce by combining vegetable broth, soy sauce, sugar, lemon juice, molasses, cornstarch, cayenne pepper and set aside.
- Heat oil in a large skillet or wok on medium-high heat, saute eggplant strips until golden brown (may need extra oil).
- Remove eggplant strips and set aside. Add garlic, ginger, spring onions and bell pepper, saute until fragrant, about 2 minutes.
- Add sauteed eggplant strips and quickly add sauce to the skillet stirring and cook stirring until sauce thickens. Check seasoning and add salt to taste if needed.
Wasn’t really sure how long I should have cooked the eggplant. I used the regular variety. I waited until everything was golden brown, but half the pieces ended up too firm for my taste. Maybe I should have just stirred more often. I included some sesame oil and hoisin sauce to the mixture, until the sauce super thick and sticky, which what I was craving. Also added rice noodles at the end and cooked 2 minutes longer.
This reminded us of when we lived in China! So delicious, and the sauce was spot on.
Nancy, your comment is such a compliment, thank you.
This was so yummy. My carnivorous husband even enjoyed it.
I’m happy you and your hubby enjoyed it. Thank you for sharing your feedback.
10 Stars! Just starting a plant-based diet and bought a Chinese eggplant at local veggie stand. Wasn’t sure what to do with it–so happy that I found this recipe. FANTASTIC! I followed it to the letter with exception of using only 1 tablespoon of almond oil to saute the eggplant and adding a few cashews at the end. Husband said, “I could eat this every night.” I imagine I’ll be returning to this recipe time and time again to use the sauce with other veggies. Bok choy, broccoli or broccolini, cauliflower, green beans, carrots, etc. etc. either solo or in combination will be great. Thank you for sharing this!
Thank you Rik, I’m so happy you and your husband enjoyed it. Sounds fantastic with other veggies. Thank you for sharing.
This was delicious.. used Tamari and it worked well. Definitely will become a favorite. Thank you!
That’s so awesome, I’m happy you enjoyed it. Thank you for sharing that Tamari works great.
Surprisingly delicious! I say this because I’m not a fan of homemade eggplant dishes. It looked delicious and I decided to give it a try. Salting the the eggplant before cooking must be the secret because there was no bitterness at all. I served it over cauliflower rice and scraped the platter clean! This one goes into my recipe book! Thanks for changing my mind about homemade eggplant.
Idt, I’m so happy you enjoyed it. Thank you for your feedback.
I made this last night, it was so good! I didn’t have molasses, so I used dark maple syrup. It worked out well! I may never order the eggplant dish from my chinese restaurant again. Thank you! I can’t wait to explore your other recipes!
Laurie, I’m so excited it turned out great. Thank you very much for sharing your feedback.
Whenever I get an hankering for Chinese eggplant this is my go to automatically. I’ve tried many other recipes for an eggplant stir fry and none compare to this. I do the recipe almost exactly as is, except I use 1 tbsp of oil instead, just for a lower calorie count. Sometimes I’ll steam the eggplant and use no oil to cook and then just add a bit of sesame oil as a slight alteration.
Thanks so much for this delightful dish
Shelley, that is so wonderful to read, I’m so happy you enjoyed it. Thank you for sharing your feedback and adjustments with us.
I think what a previous commenter may have meant by ” printer friendly” is an easy way to print just the recipe on one or two pages. When I go to print your recipes 14 pages come up with no way to select just the recipe. Also under every single ingredient a url is listed that should be eliminated in a printable recipe. As a longterm vegan with several freinds needing gluten free, i love your blog but would view it more frequently if i could print recipes in a better format for one of the five notebooks i keep on best vegan recipes. If so I would surely be printing many of your recipes. Will be making this one tonight for a vegan, gluten free dinner i am hosting tomorrow night.
Susan thank you for your feedback, I need more information are you printing from your laptop, desktop, tablet or phone. I just printed this recipe and only 2 pages were printed from my laptop? My web developer prints from his phone and doesn’t print a lot of pages either. My web developer spent the entire of last week working on this issue that some readers have but not all. It even broke my website and cost me over $500. We will continue to try and figure out.
SInce I saw this months ago I had to try it ! It is a favorite in this house! Making it again tonight, Husband is not a vegan & Loves this dish!
Thank You ! :D
That’s awesome Missy, I’m so happy your hubby enjoyed it. Thank you for sharing your feedback.