Fish-flavoured eggplant – Yu xiang qiezi 鱼香茄子
I’ve always wondered why yú xiāng qiézi 鱼香茄子 had the name it did. Ok, maybe not always. I got a taste of it on my early work trips to
Check those posts below –
Bazhong & Enyang Ancient Town
Things to do in Xialiang
Things to do in Chengdu
Yú xiāng qiézi would almost always make it to a lunch or dinner spread. They were always prepared a little differently, but each one had something special about it.
The “fish-flavoured” title comes from Sichuan’s typical flavour profile of spicy, sour and a bit sweet. Sauces that are quite often used with seafood.
No seafood in this, however. This is a simple ensemble of the hero eggplant, some spices, sauces and more oil than the average Westerner may consider using. One thing I learnt whilst in Sichuan is that its cooks aren’t shy when it comes to cooking with oil. I did, however, cut back on it a little with my adaptation of this Sichuan classic.
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people
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- 700 g eggplant
- 1 cup vegetable oil
- ½ cup green spring onion finely chopped
- 40 g ginger finely grated
- 3 large cloves garlic finely grated
- ⅓ cup shaoxing wine
- 1 tbsp light soy sauce
- 1 tbsp chilli soy bean paste
- 2 tsp sugar
- 1 tsp chinkiang vinegar
- 1½ tsp cornflour dissolved in 1½ tsp water
Ingredients
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- Cut the eggplant into chunks.
- Heat the oil in a wok saucepan over low-medium flame. Cook the eggplant in batches until soft, but not coloured. Set aside.
- Pour the oil out of the wok, leaving 4 tablespoons of it in the wok. Heat the wok over med-high flame.
- Toss in the spring onion, ginger and garlic and stir-fry for 2-3 minutes until soft. Do not let it brown.
- Add the Shaoxing wine, soy sauce, soya bean paste and ½ cup water. Mix it together and add the cooked eggplant. Reduce heat to medium, gently mix and season with sugar and vinegar. Stir through the cornflour liquid.
- Serve hot or at room temperature.
