Chinese Braised Eggplant

August 16, 2022

 

Garlicky, gingery eggplant is braised until meltingly tender and flavorful in this quick and easy dish. Served with fragrant steamed rice, this is a great weeknight dinner that hits savory and sweet notes.

 

Ingredients

2 Local Roots Japanese eggplant
4 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp salt
1 inch fresh ginger, peeled
6 cloves Local Roots garlic
¼ cup brown sugar
¼ tsp red pepper flakes
2 tbsp oyster sauce (or mushroom sauce to make this dish vegan!)
4 tbsp water

 

Directions

1. Wash the eggplant and slice off the stem end. Cut into diagonal segments.
2. Heat a pan to high-medium and add 4 tbsp of olive oil to the pan. Add the sliced eggplant to the pan and evenly sprinkle over 1 tsp of salt. Stir occasionally for even browning.
3. Chop the peeled ginger and remove the peel from six cloves of garlic. Finely dice with a food processor or by hand. 
4. Fry the eggplant until browned on all sides, which should take 10-15 minutes. 
5. Stir together the brown sugar, red pepper flakes, oyster sauce, and 4 tbsp of water to create a sauce. 
6. Add the diced garlic and ginger to the browned eggplant and turn the heat down to low-medium. Sauté for 1-2 minutes, until fragrant. 
7. Pour in the sauce and gently coat each piece of eggplant. Cook down the sauce for around 10 minutes, until it becomes caramelized and sticky. When each piece of eggplant is tender and almost broken down, the dish is ready.
8. Serve with steamed rice and enjoy!

 

This recipe was created by Local Roots contributor Irena Huang / @irena__huang

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