Pork Belly Braised with Diced Eggplant
Eggplant is delicious but loves oil. Here, pork belly is rendered down for its fat, which is then used to fry soybean paste until thick and fragrant. The tender diced eggplant soaks up the savory richness of the pork and sauce—truly rice-worthy.
Ingredients
round eggplant
400g
cooking oil
2 teaspoons
scallions
10g
star anise
2
salt
as needed
pork belly
100g
sweet bean sauce
2 teaspoons
ginger
as needed
sugar
1 teaspoon
cooking wine
1 teaspoon
Instructions
1
Step 1
Main ingredients: eggplant, pork belly, sweet bean sauce, star anise, ginger slices, scallions
2
Step 2
Finely chop the scallions and ginger, and dice the pork belly into small cubes
3
Step 3
Wash the eggplant and cut into cubes
4
Step 4
Heat one teaspoon of cooking oil in a pan, add the eggplant cubes, and sauté over low heat until they soften and shrink, then remove from the pan
5
Step 5
Add oil to the pan, add the pork belly cubes, and sauté over low heat until some of the fat renders out.
6
Step 6
Add the chopped scallions, ginger, and star anise, and sauté over low heat until fragrant
7
Step 7
Pour in the cooking wine
8
Step 8
Add the soybean paste and sauté over low heat until the sauce thickens and coats the pork belly cubes
9
Step 9
Stir well, then add the sautéed eggplant cubes and toss to combine
10
Step 10
Add one teaspoon of sugar and a pinch of salt. Stir well once more, then turn off the heat and plate.
11
Step 11
Done!
