I was excited to cook Szechuan Eggplant after purchasing some Japanese eggplant from the farmers market. While I have cooked with regular eggplant many times, Japanese eggplant is long, lean, and purple. It’s absolutely beautiful. Szechuan eggplant is also quite simple to make, but you do need to baby the eggplant a bit since it is really easy to overcook and undercook it. Having a large wok is perfect for preparing the eggplant.
If you try making any of these recipes, I would love if you could tag it on Instagram or FB @chivegfood!
Saucy Szechuan Eggplant Recipe
I was excited to cook Szechuan Eggplant after purchasing some Japanese eggplant from the farmers market. While I have cooked with regular eggplant many times, Japanese eggplant is long, lean, and purple. It’s absolutely beautiful. Szechuan eggplant is also quite simple to make, but you do need to baby the eggplant a bit since it is really easy to overcook and undercook it.
4
servings30
minutes30
minutesIngredients
2 whole eggplant
3 tbsp vegetable or grapeseed oil
1 lb Tofu (see my Asian tofu recipe )
1 can can of Mushrooms (shiitake or straw mushrooms)
1 can Bamboo shoots washed and drained
4 cloves minced garlic
1 tbsp ginger
3 sprigs green onions
1-1.5 tbsp cornstarch
4 tbsp Tamari
3 tbsp Sambal
2 tbsp black bean sauce
1 tbsp apple cider vinegar
1 tsp sesame oil
1/4 c vegetable broth
Directions
- Prepare the tofu or seitan. If you’re using seitan, drain the seitan, pan fry it for about 5 minutes and turn it over at least once throughout cooking. Drizzle some Tamari over it once you flip it.
- Chop the eggplant in quarters and then chop them into one inch pieces.
- Pour some oil into the frying pan and add eggplant once it’s sizzling. Sprinkle some salt and pepper on the eggplant.
- Sauté the eggplant until it’s tender, but not soft. This can vary but it should take about 10 minutes and be sure to flip it over once.
- While the eggplant is cooking, get a medium-sized bowl and make your sauce.
- Add your cornstarch, ginger, Tamari, Sambal, black bean sauce, apple cider vinegar, and sesame oil to the bowl. Stir until everything is mixed in and set aside.
- In a hot wok, add some oil and once it’s hot, add the minced garlic and mushrooms. Sauté for a few minutes and then add in the eggplant, then the sauce mixture, and bamboo shoots. Stir fry everything for about 3-4 minutes.
- Then add some vegetable broth to thin out the sauce if needed (I prefer to not have it super thick).
- Once it is simmering on low heat for 10 minutes. Add the green onions and tofu/seitan.
- And voila it is ready to serve with some rice (I prefer kimchi fried rice) or noodles!
Notes
- If you want your sauce to be thinner, add more vegetable stock.
- If you want your sauce to be thicker, mix corn starch and water together, then add the mixture to the sauce when it is boiling and mix it all together.
- This can be made with seitan or just veggie-centric if you don’t have tofu.
This is so flavorful and delicious!
Thank you! Glad you enjoyed it!