Chinese Eggplant in Garlic Sauce

This Chinese Eggplant in Garlic Sauce Stir Fry (魚香茄子) is not only delicious but also easy to make! A great side dish or a vegetarian entrée.

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Eggplant in Garlic Sauce Stir Fry in Chinese is 魚香茄子 (pronounced Yu Xiang Qie Zi). “Qie Zi” means Eggplants in Mandarin Chinese. “Yu Xiang” actually literally translates to “fish fragrant” but the interesting part is that this dish has zero seafood in it. It’s called “fish fragrant” because it uses the ingredients/sauces that is often used to cook fish!

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Yu Xiang sauce usually consists of sugar, vinegar, doubanjiang, and soy sauce. There are various versions so sometimes you will see ingredients such as chili peppers, Sichuan peppercorn, depending on the recipe.

About the Ingredients

Here are some tips to make this dish yummy!

Chinese Eggplants

Make sure to use the right eggplants – Chinese eggplants.

Chinese eggplants are a lot thinner than American and Italian eggplants. They have a thinner skin and are less bitter as it has less seeds (the seeds are what makes an eggplant slightly bitter).

Since Chinse eggplants have a sweeter flesh with tender skin, which makes them perfect for stir fry and sauté recipes.

They are actually very similar to Japanese eggplants, but Chinese eggplants are a lot lighter in color. It’s good to know though, that you can easily substitute these two types of eggplants interchangeably in recipes as they cook similarly.

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For this recipe, if you can’t find Chinese eggplants, but find some Japanese eggplants, you can substitute with Japanese eggplants.

Chili Bean Paste / Doubanjiang

Chilli Bean Paste aka Doubanjiang 豆瓣酱, is a chunky sauce you can buy at the store that is spicy and savory. It’s traditionally made from fermented broad beans, chili peppers, soybeans, salt and flour. There are also different ones you can find, for example some will add spicy chili oil in it already.

Chili Bean Paste is often used in Sichuan food (ex: mapo tofu), which might explain why I love it because I love Sichuan food (and my grandma was from there!). I use it in my Szechuan Chicken, Twice Cooked Pork and Jalapeno Chicken.

You can buy it at your local Asian super market or even on Amazon such as this one: Lee Kum Kee LKK Chili Bean Sauce (Toban Djan).

Eggplant in Garlic Sauce Recipe

Ingredients

2 Chinese eggplants, cut in to 2 inch length
1 tbsp vinegar or lemon juice
2 tbsp cooking oil
1/2 tbsp of minced fresh ginger
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 tbsp soy sauce
1 tbsp chili bean sauce / doubanjiang
1 tsp sugar
2 green onions, finely chopped

Instructions

Slice eggplants in to 2-inch length.

Place eggplants in a bowl and fill with water. Add 1 tbsp of salt and either vinegar or lemon juice, and mix well. This will help keep the eggplants from browning and keep it more ‘purple’.

Allow it to soak for about 15 minutes. Mince your garlic and ginger, and chop your green onions if you haven’t already done so.

Remove from water, and pat dry with paper towel.

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In a wok or cooking pan, add cooking oil, garlic, and ginger, and stir fry for about a minute.

Add eggplants and stir fry for about a minute, and then add soy sauce, chili bean sauce, and sugar. Stir fry for about 7 minutes or until eggplants are cooked thoroughly.

Add the chopped green onions, and mix well.

Remove from heat and serve!

And… that’s it! Dump all that on a plate and enjoy your delicious home made Chinese cuisine!

This an be a delicious veggie entree, but I always eat it as a side! Looking for an entree to go with? Here’s my most popular chicken entree – Easy Coconut Milk Curry Chicken!

Looking for more delicious Chinese recipes like this Chinese Eggplant in Garlic Sauce? Check out my Chinese Recipes here!