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Ingredients mostly of https://pickledplum.com/eggplant-garlic-sauce/

+mushroom, -chilli, +chilli flakes. one FAT western eggplant was more than enough. still have the seedy flesh from the middle. tried new fancy cooking wines and vinegars uwu. house smells nice.

I didn’t have any chilli unfortunately but did chuck in some gratuitous chilli flakes at the eleventh hour

Technique (sort of) from https://www.madewithlau.com/recipes/eggplant-with-garlic-sauce

underestimated food prep time. my cooking skills are still very basic. almost chopped off my fingers like ten times whoopsies.

eggplant needed more steam, still quite tough. but that’s also still yummy.

Yeah I didn’t grow up around this stuff, my mum is Vietnamese so she mostly cooked Viet-Chinese food. But my dad is Chinese, so I would like to try my own hand at Chinese cooking

I wanna learn how to cook Viet food as well, but I’ll try learn from my mum and grandma as much as I can?? Because they actually have some of their own wisdom to pass down, whereas dad cooks a mean spag bol and packet ramen with a runny egg

Ingredients

  • 2–3 long Japanese or Chinese eggplant, sliced in half lengthwise and chopped
  • 2 tablespoons veggie oil
  • 4 large cloves garlic, peeled and minced
  • 1 tablespoon ginger, peeled and minced
  • 2–3 Chinese dried red chilis, chopped
  • 4 scallions, finely chopped on the bias
  • sauce components
    • 2 tablespoons soy sauce
    • 2 teaspoons granulated sugar
    • 1 tablespoon chinkiang vinegar
    • 1 tablespoon shaoxing wine or dry sherry
  • 1 teaspoon sesame oil to finish

Technique

Steam the eggplant.

Dump out the water from the wok, dry it, and reheat the wok on high heat for a few minutes until it’s around 300-350°F.

Then, we’ll add about 2 tsp of veggie oil and let that heat up until it’s shimmering, or forming ripples across the surface.

Once our wok is hot enough, we’ll cook in a few stages:

  • Add the minced chilies + peppers, ginger, garlic. Cook & stir for about 30-45 seconds to release the aromatics.
  • Add the mushrooms. Optionally add some of the green onions. Cook & stir for about 20-30 seconds.
  • Add the sweet pepper chunks, Cook & stir for about 60 seconds, constantly stirring the wok.
  • Add the sauce, and cook until the sauce is boiling.
  • Add and mix the eggplant around with the sauce for about 60-90 seconds.
  • Add sesame oil (1 tsp) and stir.