Braised Eggplant with Sweet Bean Sauce
A Zhejiang-style dish featuring eggplant cut into chunks, deep-fried, then braised with sweet bean sauce. The flavor profile is savory with a lingering sweetness and a rich, fragrant sauce.
Ingredients
Eggplant (peeled, cut into 2 cm cubes, cross-hatch scored on the surface)
500 g
Vegetable oil (about 75 g actually used, for frying the eggplant)
500 g
Sweet bean sauce
25 g
Sugar
10 g
Soy sauce
10 g
Salt
1 g
MSG
1 g
Cornstarch slurry
25 g
Scallion (sliced)
to taste
Ginger (sliced)
to taste
Garlic (sliced)
to taste
Instructions
1
Preparation
Peel the eggplant, cut it into 2 cm cubes, and score a cross-hatch pattern on the surface. Slice the scallions, ginger, and garlic and set aside.
2
Fry the Eggplant
Heat the oil in a pan, add the eggplant, and fry until golden brown, then remove and drain.
3
Braise
Pour out the oil from the pan, leaving just a little to coat the bottom. Add the scallions, ginger, garlic, and sweet bean sauce and stir-fry until fragrant. Pour in an appropriate amount of water, then add the eggplant, sugar, salt, MSG, and soy sauce. Bring to a boil, then reduce to low heat and cook until the eggplant is tender throughout. Stir in the cornstarch slurry and bring back to a boil to finish.
