The previous round I tried cooking brinjals, it was using a simple recipe that followed closely to a canteen food that I used to eat at work back then. This Asian style brinjal recipe uses dark soy sauce, chilli and oyster sauce to braise the brinjals. For a change, I decided to cook brinjals this time round in the Sichuan style with salted fish, minced pork and black vinegar. This is one dish that I could never resist ordering when I am at the local Chinese restaurants because the chefs are so capable of getting it right every time, with very nicely marinated minced pork and very well-braised and soft brinjal chunks.
I’m rather glad that the boy has inherited most of my genes in terms of his tastes for food and snacks. His dad does not really fancy eating this purple root, but the boy and I love it lots. I no longer have to worry about leftovers when I cook brinjals at home. In fact, I now have one more good reason to cook this dish at home – to get the boy to eat his roots and stay rooted at home!
Ingredients:
- Eggplant: 3, cubed
- Oil: 3 tbsp + 2 tbsp
- Garlic: 2 cloves, minced
- Salted fish: 1 thumb length, minced
- Minced pork: 150g (marinated with a pinch of salt and 1 tbsp Chinese wine)
- Light soy sauce: 1 tbsp
- Sugar: 1.5 tbsp
- Sesame oil: 1/2 tbsp
- Black vinegar: 2 tbsp
- Chinese wine: 1 tbsp
- Water: 1/2 cup
- Doubanjiang (豆瓣酱): 1 tbsp
- Spring onion: 1 stalk, finely chopped
- Cornstarch mixture: 1 tbsp cornstarch + 3 tbsp water
Method:
- Soak eggplants in salted water for 15min. Drain and set aside.
- Heat 3 tbsp oil in wok. Fry eggplants for 8min till soft. Remove and set aside.
- Heat 2 tbsp oil in wok. Fry garlic and salted fish till fragrant.
- Add pork and fry till white and broken up into bits.
- Combine light soy sauce, sugar, sesame oil, black vinegar, Chinese wine, water and doubanjiang in a bowl. Pour mixture into the wok. Leave to cook for 1min.
- Return eggplants to wok. Add in 2 tbsp of spring onion.
- Leave to simmer for 5min.
- Mix in cornstarch mixture. Switch off heat.
- Garnish with remaining spring onion. Serve hot with plain rice.
Serving:
4 persons as side dishes
