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Aubergine with Pork & Chilli-Garlic Sauce

A delicious but simple Chinese inspired stir-fry with a punchy sauce. Serve over noodles or rice, or as one of several dishes to share.

Course Main Course, Side Dish
Cuisine Chinese
Keyword stir fry
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 30 minutes
Soaking time (optional) 30 minutes
Total Time 1 hour 10 minutes
Servings 2 as a main course
Author Moorlands Eater

Ingredients

  • 2 medium aubergines
  • 2 tsp salt optional: see Instructions step 2
  • 1½ tbsp cornflour
  • oil for frying
  • 250 g minced pork
  • 6 cloves garlic finely chopped
  • 3 cm root ginger finely chopped or grated
  • 6 spring onions finely sliced, white and green kept separate
  • 3 tbsp roughly chopped coriander
  • 2 tsp toasted sesame seeds

Stir-fry sauce

  • 4 tbsp Shaoxing cooking rice wine
  • 4 tbsp light soy sauce
  • 1 tbsp dark soy sauce
  • 1 tbsp rice vinegar
  • 1 tbsp crispy chilli in oil (ideally with peanuts) or chilli oil, chilli paste
  • 2 tsp sugar or to taste
  • 1 tsp Sichuan pepper

Instructions

  1. Top and tail the aubergines, slice lengthways, then cut into approximately 2-3 cm thick pieces.

  2. Optional step: soak the aubergine so it will soak up less oil when fried

    Put the aubergine pieces in a large bowl, cover with water and stir in the 2 tsp of salt.

    Lay an upturned plate over the aubergine so that it stays submerged under the water.

    Leave to soak for 30 mins, drain in a colander (no need to rinse), then pat dry on kitchen paper.

  3. Make the stir-fry sauce

    Put all the stir-fry sauce ingredients in a bowl or jug, mix together well then set aside.

  4. Brown the aubergine

    Toss the aubergine pieces in ONE tablespoon of the cornflour.

    Heat a layer of oil in a large frying pan or wok to high.

    Working in batches, quickly cook the aubergine on all sides until golden. Transfer pieces to a kitchen paper-lined plate while you cook the rest, adding more oil as needed.

  5. Stir-fry

    Heat 1 tbsp of oil in a large frying pan or wok to moderately high.

    Add the minced pork, in a single layer if possible, and cook for 2 minutes without stirring so it browns underneath.

    Add 2 tbsp of the stir-fry sauce to the pork then turn and stir-fry for another 2 minutes or until the pork is cooked through.

  6. Add the garlic, ginger and the WHITE part of the spring onions to the pan or wok, then stir fry for 1 minute (turn the heat down to prevent burning if necessary).

  7. Add the browned aubergine to the pan or wok, tossing and stir-frying for another minute.

  8. Pour in the rest of the stir-fry sauce plus half the chopped coriander and cook until the aubergine is done to your liking (2-5 min).

  9. Mix the remaining ½ tbsp of cornflour with a little water and stir it into the pan or wok. Cook for another minute or two to thicken.

  10. Serve the stir-fry sprinkled with the remaining coriander and the toasted sesame seeds.