Some Eggplant Dishes (九層塔茄子, 鱼香茄子, 酥炸茄盒, 鍋塌茄子)

If you like eggplant, these dishes are definitely worth a try.  If you don't like eggplant, these dishes might change your mind :-).   We use Chinese eggplants here, as shown in the image below.

I. Eggplant with Thai Basil (九層塔茄子)

1. Rinse 2-3 Chinese eggplants thoroughly.  Do cross-section cuts along the length of each eggplant into  1.5'-2" segments (each segment ends up like a felled tree trunk). Cut each eggplant trunk vertically into 4-6 long slices. Place the slices in a bowl of water for 5 minutes (let it absorb water now, so it will absorb less oil later).  Drain water out with a strainer.
2. Mince 4-6 cloves of garlic, and 1 stalk of green onion. Rinse and chop a small bundle of Thai Basil. Set aside these ingredients separately.
3. Marinate 1/4-1/2 lb of ground pork for 20-30 minutes, with 2-3 tsp of rice cooking wine, 2-3 tsp of soy sauce, and 1-2 tsp of cornstarch.
4. (Medium-to-High-Heat) Add 2-3 Tbsp of veggie oil into the flat bottom cooking pot. Turn on medium-to-high heat for a minute. Add marinated ground pork into the pot. Press the ground pork flat with a wooden spatula, then stir up and flatten again, until the pork is no longer clumped together. Take the pork out.
5. (Low-to-Medium Heat)  Add 3-4 Tbsp of veggie oil into a flat bottom cooking pot. Strain extra oil from the previous step into the pot. Add 1/4 tsp of salt. Add minced garlic. Cook till fragrant. 
6. (High Heat) Add Eggplant slices prepared in Step 1 into the pot. Stir the pieces in hot oil for a minute or two. Add the almost-cooked ground pork into the pot. Add 1-2 Tbsp of soy sauce. Add 1/4 cup of water into the pot. Stir and mix thoroughly. Cover the lid, and reduce the heat to medium. Cook till the eggplant pieces are soft (10-12 mins). Season to taste, by adding 1/4 tsp of salt.
7. Now add the chopped Thai Basil into the pot. Stir and mix the Basil leaves with eggplant, while counting up to 15 seconds. Turn off heat. Continue to stir the leaves in. Sprinkle the minced green onion on top and serve. 

II. Eggplant in Szechuan-style Spicy Sauce (鱼香茄子)

1. Rinse 2-3 Chinese eggplants thoroughly.  Do cross-section cuts along the length of each eggplant into  1.5'-2" segments (each segment ends up like a felled tree trunk).  Cut each eggplant trunk vertically into 4-6 long slices. Place the slices in a bowl of water for 5 minutes (let it absorb water now, so it will absorb less oil later).  Drain water out with a strainer.
2. Mince 4-6 slices of ginger, 4-6 cloves of garlic, and chop 1 stalk of green onion.
3. (High Heat) Place 3-4 Tbsp of vegi-oil into a flat bottom cooking pan, place eggplant slices into the pan, and stir-fry for 3-4 minutes.  Push all the slices to the side of the cooking plan, and leave a 4-5" diameter opening in the middle. Note- the seemingly large amount of oil is comparatively much less than the deep-fried cooking method of this dish, if I understand correctly.
   
4. (High Heat, Making the spicy garlic Sauce) Pour 1 Tbsp vegi-oil into the pan opening, and place in the minced ginger and garlic (let cook for a minute).  Add 1/2 tsp salt, 1 tsp sugar, 1 Tbsp Soy Sauce, 1 Tbsp Hot Bean Sauce (辣豆瓣 , see product package to the right), and 1/4 cup of water (this part along with the added vinegar in Step 5 below constitutes the spicy garlic sauce we cook fish with, hence the name 鱼香(i.e. fish-flavored)).  Now stir-fry the whole pot for 2-3 minutes.  Place the lid on the cooking pot and let cook until the eggplant slices are soft (for ~10 minutes, add water if necessary, but the lid should prevent most of the water from dissipating).  Season to taste, with salt (add 1/4 tsp a time), or soy sauce (add 2 tsp a time).
5. Now, a critical step!  Turn off the heat.  Sprinkle 1 Tbsp Vinegar along the circumference of the pan (the process known as 鍋邊醋 in Chinese, mainly because vinegar's taste evaporates when cooked longer than a minute or two).  Sprinkle the chopped green onion on top.  Stir the ingredients evenly, and serve.  Here is a picture of the finished product.  Note- Using more than 1 Tbsp of Vinegar might make this dish too sour!  If so, turn on high heat, then stir and mix for a minute or two to let the vinegar evaporate (to fix the problem).
   

III. Fried Eggplant Stuffed with Shrimp (酥炸茄盒) 

1. Rinse 1 Chinese eggplant thoroughly.  Do angled cross-cut on the eggplant along its length (at about 60-degrees from the cross-section, to increase the size of the cross section) into 3/4"-thick pieces.  For each piece, slice 2/3 into the cross section of the piece (but not to cut through), to create a pocket for the embedded shrimp.
2. Get half a pound of peeled and deveined shrimps. Marinate the shrimps (see Note). Note- Marinate 1 lb of shrimps for 2-3 hours with 1 Tbsp of rice cooking wine, 1 Tbsp of corn starch, 1/4 tsp of baking soda, and 1 Tbsp of veggie oil, as we did in Sautéd Crystal Shrimps. 
3. (Batter) Mix 1/2 cup of all-purpose flour with an egg and 1/2 tsp salt and some water (starting with 1/4 cup of water then adding little by little), stir evenly to create a batter that is relatively thick (i.e., dripping slowly, but not flowing). Note- An alternative method is to separate beaten eggs from dry flour.  When frying, dip an eggplant piece in egg fluid first, dry flour next.  This results in much thinner layer of coating, and a bit more time-consuming.
4. Dip a shrimp into the batter, and insert it into the pocket of an eggplant piece.  Then dip the eggplant piece (with shrimp embedded) into the batter.  Let the piece sit in a plate, and process through the whole batch of shrimps and eggplant pieces.
5. (High Heat, Deep Fry) Pour 2-3" vegi-oil into a medium-sized pot (~8" in diameter).  Heat the oil, and place in the eggplant pieces.  Fry until the pieces are golden brown (~3-4 minutes).  Note 1- When does the oil reach the desired 150-deg-Celsius?  Dip one piece of chopstick into water and let drip dry (don't wipe dry! Dip the chopstick into heated oil, if the vegi-oil has reached the desired "high heat", you should see tiny water bubbles rising FAST alongside the chopstick.)
6. (Medium-to-Low Heat, Making Sauce, i.e., the Sweet and Sour Sauce) Add 1 Tbsp vegi-oil into a small pot (5-6" in diameter), place chopped green onion and garlic in, and stir-fry for 1 minute.  Add 1/4 cup water, 1/2 tsp salt, 1 tsp sugar, 1 Tbsp soy sauce, and 1 Tbsp vinegar.  Bring this sauce to boil and let simmer.  Stir the corn-starch water (1 Tbsp Corn Starch with 3 Tbsp water) into the sauce slowly until the sauce is thick.  Note 2- This sauce is similar to the traditional sauce above.
7. Sprinkle the sauce on top of the fried eggplant pieces, and serve (use the remainder of the sauce as  dipping sauce).  Here is a picture of the finished product.
   

IV. Pan-Fried Eggplant (鍋塌茄子)

1. Get two Chinese eggplants.  Cut the ends off, rinse, and further cut each eggplant into ~ 1/4- 1/2" thick slices.
2. (Prepare the batter) Crack and beat 3 eggs in a bowl, add 3/4 cup of flour, and 1/2 cup of water, mix thoroughly.
3. (Prepare the dipping sauce, medium-to-low heat) Heat 1 Tbsp vegi-oil in a smaller pot (~5-6" in diameter), add 1 stalk of scallion (chopped), 2-3 slices of ginger (minced) and 3-4 cloves of garlic (minced), stir-fry for 1-2 minutes; add  1/2 cup of water, 1 Tbsp soy sauce, 1 Tbsp rice cooking wine, 1 Tbsp Oyster Sauce, 2 Tbsp ketchup, let simmer for 1-2 minutes with lid on. 
4. (Medium Heat) Heat 1/4" deep vegi-oil in a medium-sized flat pan.  Coat each eggplant piece with a thin layer of batter, then fry till both sides are golden brown (~4-5 minutes each side).
5. Garnish with chopped scallion and serve with the dipping sauce on the side.  Here is a picture of the finished product.