Brinjals With Hot Bean Paste

Do you like eating brinjals? I do, it is one of my favourite veggies. There are different varieties of brinjals, and goes by many names. Interesting facts I've read from Wikipedia, that in Malaysia and parts of the Asian countries, we usually call these veggies Brinjals. The name Eggplants are used in United States, Australia, New Zealand and Canada whereas, the name Aubergine is used in France. There are different varieties of brinjals, the most common ones are the popular purple and white varieties. Of course, each different culture and country have their own special way of cooking this wonderful veggie.

One of my favourite way of eating Brinjals, is to cook it in a Chinese stir-fry style. This recipe is from one of my very old cookbook, "Chinese Cuisine". The name of this recipe is actually Fish-Flavoured Eggplants, but there is nothing "fishy" about this dish! It does not have fish or even fish sauce as one of it's ingredient ,so I just called it "Brinjals with Hot Bean Paste".

This is a delicious dish to eat with plain white rice.  The brinjals are first fried until cooked, which takes only about 2 minutes on each side. Since brinjals tend to soak in the oil during frying, drain them on kitchen paper towels to remove excess oil. And to avoid using more oil than necessary, use a non-stick frying pan. While cooking this, make sure you get the seasoning right, it should be a little sweet, salty and mildly spicy. Even my kids love it. If you are not serving it to kids, you may increase the spiciness by adding in chopped fresh hot red chillies. 

Try it and enjoy!

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Brinjals with Hot Bean Paste

(adapted from "Chinese Cuisine" by Huang Su-Huei, with some changes)
450gm brinjals
1/3 cup oil for frying
100gm ground pork

For stir-frying :
1 teaspoon hot bean paste
2 tablespoons chopped green onions, white part (scallions)
1 tablespoons minced ginger root
1 tablespoons minced garlic

chopped green onions, green part, from above, reserved for later

Mix together for the gravy :
1-1/2  tablespoons soy sauce (or to taste)
1 tsp black soy sauce
3/4 cup stock
1/2 tablespoons sugar (or to taste)
1/2 tablespoons rice vinegar
1 tablespoons Chinese cooking wine

Mix together :
1 teaspoon cornstarch
1 tablespoon water

1. Cut off the ends of the eggplants. Cut the eggplant into 1/2-inch strips. Heat the wok then add oil. Fry the eggplant strips for about 3 minutes, or until cooked. Remove and drain on kitchen paper towels. 
2. In a clean wok, add about 1-2 tablespoon of the oil from (1) above. Stir-fry the ground pork and add  ingredients for stir-frying one at a time, stirring after each addition. Return the eggplant to the wok and add in gravy mixture, cook for 1 minute. Add cornstarch solution to thicken, stir.  Add the reserved chopped green onions. Transfer to a serving plate, serve hot.