Chinese Eggplant with Pork Slices

Chinese eggplant with pork slices (猪肉片爆炒茄子) is one of my favorite dishes. This cuisine only required two main ingredients which included Chinese eggplant (qie zi), pork slices, garlic, scallion, and chilies. The dish can be prepared either in a pan or wok and it only takes 15 minutes to complete. It is great to serve with rice.

What is the difference between Chinese Eggplant and Regular Eggplant?

Chinese eggplant has lighter and thinner skin, with white flesh and a sweeter taste compared to the regular eggplant. I strongly recommend using Chinese eggplant for this dish in order to avoid the bitter taste of regular eggplant.

Should Eggplant be Salted Before Frying?

Yes, you should salt them. For pan-frying, this step can help to draw the moisture out from the eggplant and make them easier to cook without extra water. In addition, salting the eggplant also helps to remove its bitterness. For a medium-sized eggplant, you need at least 1/2 tbsp of salt. Remember to let the pieces with salt sit for 30 – 60 minutes until beads of liquid form on the surface.

Recipe Ingredients

The recipe calls for the following ingredients:

Main Ingredients

• 1 medium-sized Chinese eggplant – it has high content of antioxidants like vitamin A and C, which can help to protect our body cells against damage. It also reduces the risk of heart disease since it helps lower the levels of cholesterol and triglycerides
• 150 gram pork slices – cut it into ~0.5 cm thickness
• 2 cloves of garlic – mince the garlic as per the picture above
• 10 gram of scallion – chop the scallion as per the picture above
• 1 small chilies pepper – chop the chilies as per the picture above. Chilies pepper enhances the flavor of the dish. You may reduce the amount of chilies to half or skip it if you don’t like spicy.

Seasoning Ingredients

To season the pork slices

• 1 tbsp soy sauce
• 1 tbsp oyster sauce
• 1 tsp dark soy sauce
• 1 tsp sesame oil
• 1 tsp sugar
• 1 tsp corn flour
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp white pepper

The other seasoning

• 1/2 tbsp salt (salt the eggplant)
• 1 tbsp soybean paste (season during cooking process)
• 1/2 tbsp sugar (season during cooking process)

How to Cook Chinese Eggplant with Pork Slices?

1. Cut the pork into slices and season it with all the ingredients shown above. Put it in refrigerator for 3 -5 hours.

2. Cut the Chinese eggplant into small pieces. Sprinkle some salt on the eggplant. Let it rest for 30 – 60 minutes.

3. Remove the extra water from the eggplant and drain it. Set aside.
4. Heat up a pan/wok with 1 tbsp oil. Put in half portion of scallion and chopped garlic into the pan/wok. Fry it for 30 seconds.

5. Put in the pork slices. Fry it under medium heat for 2 minutes.

6. Add in the seasoning (soybean paste and sugar) and fry for another minute.

7. Put in the Chinese eggplant and fry for 2 minutes.

8. Add in 1 cup of water and let it cook for 5 minutes under medium-low heat.

9. Add in the scallion and chilies pepper and stir-fry for 30 seconds.

10. Done and serve immediately.