Eggplants with Garlic Sauce, Yu Xiang Qie Zi, is a classic Sichuan dish. Normally when you cook eggplants, they will turn brown, and become soggy and super oily. Today I’d like to show you some tricks so those won’t happen. It’s going to be the most delicious Eggplants with Garlic Sauce!
For the eggplants: 2 teaspoons salt 1 teaspoon rice vinegar 4 large Chinese eggplants, quartered the eggplants lengthwise, 2-inch long 1 tablespoon cornstarch 4 cups avocado oil
For the stir-fry: 2 tablespoons avocado oil 6 ounces ground pork 1 tablespoon Sichuan Pixian broad bean paste (duo ban jiang) 1/2 teaspoon ginger, minced 5 garlic cloves, minced 1 teaspoon salted chopped chilies (duo jiao), could replace it with pao jiao, or other red chili peppers 1 tablespoon scallions, minced
For the sauce: 1 tablespoon soy sauce 1 tablespoon dark soy sauce 1 tablespoon Chinkiang vinegar 2 tablespoons sugar 2/3 cup water 1 tablespoon cornstarch 3 tablespoon water
Yuxiang qiezi is a classic Sichuan dish, but when you cook eggplants,
they usually turn dark, become soggy, and super oily. Today, I want to show you some tricks so
those won't happen. It is the most delicious yuxiang qiezi.
In a large bowl of water, add the salt and rice vinegar. Whisk. Cut the eggplants into quarters,
lengthwise. Transfer the eggplants into the water. Place a heavy plate on top so all the
eggplants are inside the water. Soak them for 20 minutes. There are two benefits of doing this.
First, it will prevent the eggplants from turning dark brown while cooking.
And second, the eggplants won't absorb oil like a sponge and become soggy and super oily.
Squeeze out the additional moisture from the eggplants.
Sprinkle with the cornstarch and mix well.
To make the sauce, in a bowl, mix in the soy sauce, dark soy sauce,
zhenjiang vinegar, sugar, and water. In a wok over high heat, add the avocado oil.
You could also use other high smoking point cooking oil.
Heat it up to 350 degrees F or 177 degrees C. I'm frying the eggplants today because that's
how it's normally made. But you could also pan fry or steam the eggplants instead.
And fry for about 1 minute. And again, because we soaked the eggplants previously,
so they won't become soggy and oily. You can give it a try and let me know how it goes.
Remove and drain.
In a wok over high heat, place in the avocado oil or other oil of your choice.
Also add the ground pork. Stir fry until cooked, about 2 minutes.
Add the Sichuan pixian broad bean paste, ginger, garlic, and salted chopped chili peppers.
Sichuan people normally use pao jiao, but it's not available in my local grocery stores.
You could also replace it with other red chili peppers. Stir fry until aromatic,
1 minute. Pour in the sauce, return the eggplants, and give it a good stir.
Add the cornstarch slurry to thicken the sauce. I have here 1 tablespoon of cornstarch and 3
tablespoons of water. Add the scallions. As you can see, the eggplants are so
beautifully in their purple color. It is super delicious, very tasty. The eggplants are soft,
but they're not soggy or oily. I can taste the aroma of garlic, ginger, and scallions.
It is slightly sweet, slightly spicy, very savory. It's just so good.
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I will see you again in the next episode. Bye!
