Chinese Eggplant with Garlic Sauce (鱼香茄子)

An easy Chinese eggplant recipe (鱼香茄子) made with perfectly cooked Asian eggplant without frying or using a steamer and cooked in a delicious garlic sauce made with ground pork.

Table of Contents

• Ingredients and Substitutions
• Garlic Eggplant Sauce Ingredients
• Tips
• How to Make Chinese Garlic Eggplant
• How to Cook Chinese Eggplant
• FAQs
• More Takeout Recipes You May Like
• Recipe Card
• More Chinese Recipes To Try

Chinese eggplant with garlic sauce, also known as Yu Xiang Qiezi (鱼香茄子) literally translates to fish-fragrant eggplant but doesn't have any fish in it at all. This is a warm and cozy dish and is traditionally made with deep-fried eggplants tossed in a sweet, sour, savory, and spicy meat sauce.

This iconic popular classic Chinese dish is a favorite amongst char siu, sweet and sour pork, Cantonese chow mein, beef chow fun and it is definitely one of my favorite takeouts to order at a restaurant.

Traditionally, this Chinese eggplant dish is made by deep-frying eggplant, which quickly cooks the eggplant all the way through and retains the beautiful purple color.

For my Chinese eggplant recipe, I kept it simple without deep frying it. Instead, we will mimic the deep frying process in the frying pan and use steam to cook the eggplant all the way through all in the same frying pan.

This makes this Chinese eggplant recipe easier to make without the extra equipment and makes the dish less greasy/oily.

My favorite part of this yu xiang qiezi eggplant recipe is eating it with a bowl of white rice and smothering it in the delicious garlic meat sauce.

There are many Asian eggplant recipes out there, each with its own twist. If you're looking for one that's garlicky, and savory with a touch of sweetness then this is the one for you!

That being said, I'm super happy I can replicate my favorite eggplant dish at home now and share it all with you, shall we start?

Ingredients and Substitutions

• Chinese eggplant (Asian eggplant) - For this recipe, you should use Chinese eggplant. Do not use Italian eggplant for this recipe, it has a bitter flavor and does not have the same sweetness to it.
• Ground Pork - Traditionally, Chinese eggplant recipes use ground pork, but you can substitute it with ground chicken/turkey.
• Sweet Red Pepper - Peppers give the sauce an additional layer of flavor.
• Onion - This is a very important ingredient and should not be left out. Alternatively, you can also use shallots as well.
• Green Onions\Scallions - This will add a bit of flavor to the sauce. I like to separate the whites from the green and cook the whites with the sauce and save the greens as a garnish at the very end.

Garlic Eggplant Sauce Ingredients

• Soy Sauce and Sugar - Soy sauce will be the main source of umami and saltiness for this dish and sugar will be the main source of sweetness.
• Chinkiang Black Vinegar - The black vinegar brings a bit of flavor to the tanginess of the sauce but if you cannot find it, you can substitute it with rice vinegar. You can buy this at any Asian grocery store or online on Amazon.
• Ketchup - This is not a traditional ingredient in Chinese eggplant but it is my secret ingredient for the garlic sauce recipe. It's a must-have and should not be omitted or substituted. The ketchup will bring all the flavors of the sauce together and give it that perfect balance of sweetness, tang, and saltiness.
• Garlic - A very important ingredient that will flavor the sauce. Cannot be omitted.
• Red Chili Pepper - I like to use 1 birds eye chili for the recipe for a bit of heat. It is optional and can be left out if you don't want it spicy.
• Corn Starch - This is used as a thickener for the sauce, but it is also used as the ground pork marinade as well to give it a less tough texture once it has been cooked.

How to Make Chinese Garlic Eggplant

Prepare the Eggplant, Vegetables, and Sauce

1. Wash the eggplant and cut off the tops. You can cut them a few ways. The simplest way to cut them is to cut the eggplant into 2-3 inches lengthwise, and 1 inch thick.

2. Soak the eggplant in water. You don't need to add any vinegar or salt, just plain water. Use a small plate to weigh them down so they stay submerged in the water. The soaking will help with cooking the eggplant with the 'quick steam' method I will be using for this recipe. Soak it for about 5-10 minutes.

3. While the eggplant is soaking, finely chop the onions, green onions, red chili (or optional red pepper) and garlic cloves and set this aside.

4. Mix all the sauce ingredients together. Make sure you are using cold water to prevent the cornstarch from clumping. Set the sauce aside for later.

Marinate the Minced Pork

5. I like to marinate the minced pork with a bit of cooking wine and cornstarch. It's an optional step but will add a bit of flavor and better texture to the final dish. I also find the cooking wine removes some of the porky flavor as well.

How to Cook Chinese Eggplant

1. Drain the water from the eggplant and set it aside.
2. Add some oil into the pan to lightly coat the bottom of the pan and set it to medium heat. Once the pan is hot, add the eggplant skin side down. Adding it skin side down, will mimic the 'deep frying' and keep the skins purple and prevent the eggplant from absorbing the oil. Cook them skin side down for about 3 minutes. If all the eggplant doesn't fit in the pan, you may have to cook it in 2 batches.

3. Once 3 minutes is up, add ½ cup of water into the pan and put a lid on it. This will 'steam' them until they are soft. Steam the eggplant for about 3-5 minutes.
4. Once 3-5 minutes is up, remove the lid. The eggplant should be soft by now. If there is still a bit of water left, you can continue to cook the eggplant with the lid off until all the water dissolves. Move the eggplant off to another dish and set it aside for later.

5. Add a bit more oil back into the pan. Once the pan is hot, add in the pork and cook it for approximately 3-4 minutes or until it is no longer pink.
6. Add in the garlic, onions, green onions, chili peppers, and sweet red peppers, and toast everything together for about 1-2 minutes until everything is fragrant.
7. Stir the sauce mixture (the cornstarch would have settled on the bottom) and add it to the pan and keep stirring until the sauce has thickened. Cook everything for about 1-2 minutes.
8. Add the eggplant back in, and str fry it for about 1 minute to let the eggplant absorb some of the sauce. At this point, don't cook the eggplant for more than 1 minute or it will turn too soft and break up and dissolve into the sauce.
9. Garnish it with some green onions and serve it with white rice and a side of vegetables and enjoy!

More Takeout Recipes You May Like

• Sweet and Sour Pork
• Beef Chow Fun
• Singapore Noodles
• Chilli Chicken
• Crispy Cantonese Beef Chow Mein
• Sweet and Sticky Crispy Beef
• Chicken Manchurian
• Saucy Beef Ho Fun Noodles with Gravy
• Hong Kong Style Sweet and Sour Chicken

Subscribe to my newsletter (we don't spam) and follow along on Instagram, Facebook, and Pinterest for all of my latest recipes!

Recipe Card

Disclaimer: We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites. While I appreciate the support – please try to buy your items locally if possible to support your local shops (chances are they are cheaper locally as well!)

More Chinese Recipes To Try