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Fish-Fragrant Whole Eggplant

A Zhejiang-style dish featuring soft, tender eggplant scored in a lattice pattern and braised in a rich, aromatic fish-fragrant sauce.

35 min
Easy
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Fish-Fragrant Whole Eggplant

Ingredients

long eggplant (stem removed, washed, scored in a crosshatch pattern) 300 g
lard 40 g
soy sauce 35 g
fine salt 3 g
red chili pepper (julienned) 2
garlic (julienned) 3 cloves
sugar 15 g
MSG 2 g
ground white pepper a pinch
scallion and ginger (julienned) to taste
vinegar 5 g
wet cornstarch 15 g
cooking wine a pinch

Instructions

1

Score the eggplant

Remove the stem of the eggplant and wash it. Slice it in half lengthwise from the middle, then make diagonal cuts about 2 fen apart on each side, with each cut going two-thirds of the way through without cutting all the way (the crosshatch "raincoat" pattern).

2

Prepare the sauce

Julienne the chili, garlic, scallion, and ginger, then combine them in a bowl with sugar, vinegar, cooking wine, MSG, ground white pepper, and wet cornstarch to make the sauce; set aside.

3

Stir-fry

Place the wok over the flame; once it is hot, add 25 g of lard.