August is the beginning of eggplant season in the Northeast, so this is as good a time as any to indulge in my favorite plump vegetable.
When I was living in Beijing and teaching Sichuan cooking classes, one of the recipes that became a regular part of the curriculum was Fish-Fragrant Eggplant. Most students were indifferent to eggplant until they tried making this particular dish. The eggplant is cut into thick slices, stir-fried, then braised in a mouth-tingling Sichuan pepper and chili bean sauce. It’s one of the few hearty main dishes in Chinese cuisine that’s completely vegetarian (well, if you subtitute chicken stock with vegetable stock.)
This eggplant dish I’m posting today doesn’t even pretend to be vegetarian. It’s more Hunan-style, and uses chopped bacon to flavor the sauce. (You can also use ground pork.) In Hunan, it’s more common to see eggplant deep-fried. However, I find that with deep-frying, the eggplant gets way too soggy a day later. This is an important consideration if you’re cooking for one and end up with a ton of leftovers. Plus, there is no point in wasting a couple liters of oil.
So I end up shallow-frying my eggplant. You will need about 1/3 cup of oil for 1 1/2 pounds of eggplant, since the vegetable is pretty spongey. But no more than 1/3 cup. That amount of oil will get the outsides nice and golden brown. With the addition of the bacon and mushroom sauce, this dish is great for anyone whose tastebuds scream for salt, spice, and this. And it’ll reheat beautifully.
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Hunan Eggplant with Bacon and Shiitakes
Serves 4
- 3 dried shiitake mushrooms
- 1 1/2 pounds eggplant
- 1/3 cup peanut or vegetable oil
- 3 ounces uncooked bacon, chopped
- 4 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 tablespoon chili bean sauce
- 1/4 cup chicken stock
- 2 tablespoons dark soy sauce
- 1/2 teaspoon sesame oil
- Salt to taste
- 3 scallion stalks, thinly sliced
- Soak the shiitake mushrooms in hot water for 20 minutes, until they soften. Drain the mushrooms and squeeze them dry. Discard the stems and finely chop the mushroom caps.
- Quarter the eggplants length-wise, then cut 1/2-inch thick slices from each quarter.
- Heat the 1/3 cup oil in a wok over high heat until just beginning to smoke. Add the eggplants and stir-fry for 4 to 5 minutes, stirring often, until the outsides turn golden brown. Remove the eggplant with a slotted spoon and set aside to drain on paper towels.
- Reduce the heat to medium and add the bacon. Cook the bacon for 2 to 3 minutes. Add the garlic and shittakes and stir-fry for another minute. Add the chili bean sauce and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Return the eggplant to the wok. Pour in the chicken stock, soy sauce and sesame oil. Allow everything to simmer for a few minutes while the flavors penetrate the eggplants. Add salt if needed.
- Add the chopped scallions to the eggplant mix and cook for another minute. Remove from the wok and serve.
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Related dishes to try:
Fish-Fragrant Eggplant (Yuxiang Qiezi)
Wild Mushroom Sauté with New Zealand Spinach
Thanks for the recipe!
Having lived in Sichuan, I used to love fried eggplant soaked in spicy sauce. However I’d agree with you that it is way too messy and unhealthy to do it at home.
Does the chill bean sauce refer to the spicy bean sauce from Sichuan?
BTW thanks for the link to “umami”. I was looking for such a word before.
Wow that looks amazing. I’ll have to substitute maybe with tempeh since I’m vegetarian, since it’s been hard to find filling vegetable mains like this. Thanks!
I’ve been looking for a recipe just like this. I went to Chengdu about three years ago an had the most amazing eggplant and didn’t know how to duplicate it back home. It wasn’t deep-fried, cooked probably like yours. This seems so good I’ll have to try it soon.
Hi I found your blog through foodgawker. Wow so many great recipes, I can’t believe I haven’t seen your blog before. I LOVE chinese food especially the authentic dishes. I’m going to try your Sichaun green bean recipe tonight and the hong kong wonton one soon.
I’m so addicted to all the lovely eggplant at the farmers markets right now. Thanks for a great, flavorful dish for the next batch I pick up. ;)
Whoooa I mis-read it and thought it said Human haha!!! Looks amazing and not too difficult! Am going to give this one a try!
This sounds like a tasty way to enjoy some eggplant!
Man, I just love Chinese-style eggplant dishes. When I was younger, I would always pick up eggplants in the grocery store wondering what they were, just admiring their purpleness. I didn’t know anything about them because my mom never cooked them, and through high school I don’t think I had ever eaten anything besided eggplant parmesan. Traveling to China and eating red braised eggplant along with fish fragrant eggplant totally opened me up to this vegetable. Also amazing how much oil it can absorb! :)
I’d really like to make this – the chili bean sauce just sort of “snuck” in… how much of it and is it something that I purchase from a specialty store or do I make it, and if so, what’s in it?
When do you add the eggplant back in after removing it to drain?
Right before adding the chicken stock. I revised step 4, so hopefully it’s clearer now. Thanks!
How much chili bean sauce do you add? It’s mentioned in step 4, but not in the ingredient list.
Bijoux – 1 tablespoon (though you can certainly add more if you like your food very spicy). Thanks for pointing out the error! It’s now been corrected.
By uncooked bacon, do you mean pork belly (五花肉)? I’m in Guangzhou, so if you can specify the cut of meat in Chinese that would be great. Thanks!
Ana C. – Yes, you should get pork belly, then thinly slice it lengthwise. Hope that helps!