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Chinese Eggplants with Garlic Sauce

October 25, 2017 18 Comments

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Eggplant is the most popular vegetable in autumn. When well-cooked, it can taste even better than meats.There are various ways of cooking eggplant in China, but braising and steaming might be the top two popular ones. Sometimes, we marinate summer tender eggplants.

Eggplant with garlic sauce| chinasichuanfood.com

Braised eggplants with garlic sauce is my favorite method of making eggplants in this autumn, using very basic seasonings and producing a well balanced dish with strong garlic aroma. There is another popular Chinese eggplant dish named as “Yu Xiang Eggplants”, which is named “Chinese eggplants in spicy garlic sauce”. That’s a completely different versions.

Though eggplants can be extremely delicious, they are not liked by every house wife cook as they are hard to handle and need lots of oil. I have been trying to search ways to reduce oil absorbed by the eggplants. The final solution is to soak the eggplants in slightly salty water and let them to absorb the water as much as possible. The water contained in the eggplants can help to accelerate the cooking process and make the eggplants much softer.

Eggplant with garlic sauce| chinasichuanfood.com

Coating eggplants with cornstarch might be another effective method, as the cornstarch will form a perfecting outside shell. But the eggplants lose the soft and sticky texture if cornstarch is adopted.

Before we start to make this garlicky eggplants, please note that the oil used for cook the eggplants is not the oil amount you will take in. When the eggplant bites are cooked until soft, they will release the oil and you can save the oil for vegetable stir fries. So you can absolutely speed up the frying process by using more oil to cover the eggplants.  Authentic Chinese table has a different philosophy from western cuisine. We do not emphasize on single dish but the whole table. When this dish is oily, we usually match simple and light soups (tofu soup with Bok Choy) or stir fries to balance the nutrition.

Eggplant with garlic sauce| chinasichuanfood.com

Ingredients

  • 2 long tender Asian eggplants
  • pinch of salt for salty water
  • 3 tbsp. cooking oil + 1/2 tbsp. if needed
  • 3-4 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1 green pepper, cut into small pieces
  • 1 tbsp. light soy sauce
  • 1/2 teaspoon sugar
  • 1 tsp. salt or to taste

Steps: 

Cut the eggplants into one bite size. Throw them in a large pot with water, add pinch of salt and marinate with a weight for 10 minutes. Transfer out and drain slightly (do not over dry, just pick the eggplants up).

Eggplant with garlic sauce| chinasichuanfood.com

Eggplant with garlic sauce| chinasichuanfood.com

At the mean time, heat up wok and 3 tablespoons of oil. Add the eggplants in wok and fry over middle fire. Stir from time to time but do not move the eggplants frequently. When they are softened, transfer the eggplants out and keep some oil for frying the garlic.  Less oil stir-frying may take longer time. If you want to speed up the process, use 1/3 cup of oil and deep-fry those eggplants bites.

Eggplant with garlic| chinasichuanfood.com

If there is no oil left, add around 1/2 tablespoon of oil. Add garlic in, heat over slow fire until aromatic.

Eggplant with garlic|chinasichuanfood.com

Add green peppers and return the eggplants, add light soy sauce and sugar. And sprinkle salt at the last.

Eggplant with garlic sauce| chinasichuanfood.com

5 from 6 votes
Print
Chinese Eggplants with Garlic Sauce
Prep Time
10 mins
Cook Time
15 mins
Total Time
25 mins
 
Chinese style braised eggplants with garlic sauce--蒜香茄子
Course: stir fry
Cuisine: Chinese
Keyword: Eggplant, Garlic Sauce
Servings: 2
Calories: 213 kcal
Author: Elaine
Ingredients
  • 2 long tender Asian eggplants
  • pinch of salt for salty water
  • 3 tbsp. cooking oil + 1/2 tbsp. if needed
  • 3-4 cloves garlic ,minced
  • 1 green pepper ,cut into small pieces
  • 1 tbsp. light soy sauce
  • 1/2 tsp. sugar
  • 1 tsp. salt or to taste
Instructions
  1. Cut the eggplants into one bite size. Throw them in a large pot with water, add pinch of salt and marinate with a weight for 10 minutes. Transfer out and drain slightly (do not over dry, just pick the eggplants up).
  2. At the mean time, heat up wok and 3 tablespoons of oil. Add the eggplants in wok and fry over middle fire. Stir from time to time but do not move the eggplants frequently. When they are softened, transfer the eggplants out and keep some oil for frying the garlic.
  3. If there is no oil left, add around 1/2 tablespoon of oil. Add garlic in, heat over slow fire until aromatic.Add garlic in, heat over slow fire until aromatic.
  4. Add green peppers and return the eggplants, add light soy sauce and sugar. And sprinkle salt at the last.
Nutrition Facts
Chinese Eggplants with Garlic Sauce
Amount Per Serving
Calories 213 Calories from Fat 198
% Daily Value*
Fat 22g34%
Saturated Fat 1g6%
Sodium 1368mg59%
Potassium 18mg1%
Carbohydrates 3g1%
Sugar 1g1%
Protein 1g2%
Vitamin A 30IU1%
Vitamin C 7.4mg9%
Calcium 8mg1%
Iron 0.2mg1%
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.

Eggplant with garlic sauce| chinasichuanfood.com

Filed Under: Featured, Mushrooms & Vegetables

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  1. Frank says

    October 29, 2017 at 8:51 pm

    This looks divine! Indeed, this is the second Chinese eggplant recipe I’ve seen today. Interesting that it is considered an autumn vegetable in China. In Italy (and elsewhere I think) it is a summer vegetable. Either way, it’s one of my favorite veggies!

    Reply
    • Elaine says

      October 30, 2017 at 9:03 am

      We have summer eggplants too. They are quite popular in those two seasons.

      Reply
  2. Ferdinand Tessadri says

    November 8, 2017 at 5:24 am

    Here in Italy we are fond of eggplants. But i don’t like them cooked in a lot of oil, so we cook them on the grill, and add oil and sauces only for the final step in the pan.

    Reply
    • Elaine says

      November 8, 2017 at 9:22 am

      That’s a wonderful method. We love to roast and grill the eggplants too. Sometimes, we marinate eggplants with salt for 10-15 minutes until withered before mixing with the sauces.

      Reply
  3. Jenna says

    December 2, 2017 at 1:49 pm

    Yum! I agree that eggplant can be yummier than meat. Especially when prepared like this.

    Reply
    • Elaine says

      December 3, 2017 at 9:23 am

      Two hands up agree.

      Reply
  4. Vickie says

    February 25, 2018 at 11:27 am

    5 stars
    Made this tonight for some friends. Everyone loved it!

    Reply
    • Elaine says

      February 25, 2018 at 11:30 am

      Thanks!

      Reply
  5. Jim says

    July 24, 2018 at 12:32 am

    5 stars
    Hi Elaine, I cannot eat peppers, will sub baby bok choy, do you think that will be suitable.
    Have made Szechuan eggplant and really enjoy it.

    Reply
    • Elaine says

      July 24, 2018 at 7:23 am

      Jim,
      If you cannot eat peppers, I would suggest using scallion to enrich the flavor instead of bok choy.

      Reply
  6. Roxana says

    January 17, 2019 at 8:50 am

    5 stars
    I just made this! It s delicious!!

    Reply
    • Elaine says

      January 17, 2019 at 9:28 am

      Thank you!

      Reply
  7. Troy says

    July 27, 2019 at 5:21 pm

    My pregnant partner loved it. Had two packets of wings. I did not put any salt in. Fantastic quick recipe.

    Reply
    • Elaine says

      July 31, 2019 at 7:41 am

      Thank you, Troy.

      Reply
  8. Cristina says

    March 19, 2020 at 9:23 am

    5 stars
    Made this tonight: Turned out great! I also don’t love the fact that eggplant usually becomes oily so this worked out great. I only needed a little bit of oil at the beginning to cook the eggplant and then a little more for the garlic. I didn’t have a wok so I used a pot and covered it. I wouldn’t have believed it unless I had seen it myself: on med/ high heat the eggplant softened really nicely and I would shake the whole pot rather than stirring and it didn’t burn but cooked through and got nice and brown. Do keep an eye on it b/c it can burn.
    I added rice, of course and it was muy delicioso. Thank you!!! (Oh i just realized I didn’t add the sugar or the salt, until the end but it was still wonderful.)

    Reply
    • Elaine says

      March 22, 2020 at 8:19 pm

      Cristina,
      Thanks for your feedback!! Cooking eggplants with less oil is more healthy but only requires a little bit patience and time. Happy cooking!

      Reply
  9. Lizeth Palma Cuesta says

    April 14, 2020 at 12:05 am

    5 stars
    I made this recipe and all my family loved it! I will be making it whenever we have eggplant again so thank you for the wonderful recipe!

    Reply
    • Elaine says

      April 14, 2020 at 8:14 am

      Thanks Lizeth for the feedback. This is on my top list too because it is very easy to make with limited ingredients.

      Reply

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Please not be limited by site name, as Elaine shares Chinese recipes beyond Sichuan dishes. Know me more from About Page

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