Chinese Eggplants Aubergine With Black Bean Sauce Recipes

SICHUAN EGGPLANT STIR FRY (鱼香茄子)

Steps:

• 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 the pork. Cook and chop with your spatula, until separated into small bits and cooked through. Add green onion, garlic, ginger, and dried chili peppers. Stir a few times to release the fragrance.
• 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.

CHINESE EGGPLANT WITH GARLIC SAUCE

Steps:

• Combine the sauce ingredients in a small bowl and set aside.
• Wash the eggplants, cut the ends off and slice them into equal sized pieces. After slicing, separate the green and white portions of the scallions into roughly two piles.
• Over very high heat, heat a tablespoon of oil in your wok. Add half of the eggplant and let it sear until brown on all sides. You can lower the heat if it looks like they're starting to burn. You want to cook the eggplant for about 5 minutes until they start to get soft and have a nice sear. Take this first batch of eggplant out of the pan, heat a second tablespoon of oil, and do the same with your second batch. Set all the cooked eggplant aside on a plate.
• Set the heat to medium high and add the last tablespoon of oil to the wok, along with the ground pork. After the pork has browned, add the ginger and cook for a minute to let it crystalize with the pork. Stir in the whole red chili peppers and the minced garlic, and after a minute, turn the heat back up to high. Add the eggplant back in, along with the stir-fry sauce, the white parts of the scallions, and the shaoxing wine. Stir-fry everything together for another 2 minutes, making sure everything is well-combined.
• Toss in the rest of the scallions and stir-fry for another 20 seconds. Plate and serve immediately with white rice.

EGGPLANT AND PEPPERS IN BLACK BEAN GARLIC SAUCE

Steps:

• Wash, then cut eggplant into 3/4-inch pieces (no need to peel).
• Heat oils together in nonstick skillet or wok over high temperature. Add the minced garlic and stir-fry, stirring, for 20 seconds, then add the black bean sauce and stir-fry for 15 seconds.
• Add eggplant, peppers, and onion and stir-fry for 5 minutes.
• Add sugar, chili sauce, and water, and stir well.
• Cook for 10 to12 minutes, stirring frequently, until vegetables are done to your preference.
• Serve immediately over hot rice.

CHINESE EGGPLANT AND TOFU IN BLACK BEAN SAUCE

Steps:

• Coat eggplant cubes in flour.
• Fry in oil 4 minutes.
• Add tofu; fry for 4 minutes until golden.
• Add black bean sauce to coat.
• Done.

BO LING'S STUFFED EGGPLANT IN BLACK BEAN SAUCE

Steps:

• Rinse eggplant and dry.
• Diagonally slice the eggplant into 11/2-inch thick slices. (This will create diagonally sliced, round discs).
• With the tip of a knife, slice a pocket into each piece, slicing parallel to the surface and slicing only about 3/4 of the way through each slice.
• Each eggplant disc now has an opening for the shrimp stuffing.
• Chop shrimp into pieces about the size of corn kernels.
• Place shrimp in a bowl and season with salt and pepper; mix until shrimp becomes sticky, about 4 minutes.
• Using a table knife, stuff about 1 to 2 teaspoons shrimp mixture into the pocket in each eggplant slice.
• Dip knife into cold water between stuffing to smooth shrimp filling (This step could take 15 to 20 minutes).
• Pour 1 cup oil into a large skillet and heat over medium-high heat.
• Pan-fry stuffed eggplant until brown on both sides.
• (Eggplant absorbs oil like a sponge; add additional oil if pan becomes dry or eggplant will not brown).
• When brown, remove from pan and set aside to drain.
• Pour 1 tablespoon oil into a hot wok.
• Add black bean, garlic and ginger; stir-fry until ingredients become a light brown.
• Add 1 1/2 cups water, sugar, soy sauce and wine.
• Stir together cornstarch with 1/2 cup water, mixing until well-dissolved.
• Slowly pour cornstarch mixture into wok, stirring constantly.
• Cook, stirring, until mixture has the consistency of syrup.
• Stir in sesame seed oil, then remove from heat.
• Dip each eggplant piece in sauce to coat well, then place each piece on a small, heatproof plate.
• Place plate in steamer and steam over boiling water 12 to 15 minutes.
• Serve warm.