Spicy Steamed Eggplant 🌶🌶 🇨🇳

  

This one is for connoisseurs of eggplants, a vegetable featured in so many cuisines around the world.  Eggplants are something we love for their texture and the way they soak up any flavour during the cooking process like a sponge.  For this Chinese recipe, use the long and slender Asian eggplants which have more delicate skin and less seeds than the standard variety, which means no salting or soaking treatment is required to remove any bitterness.  I steam them until they are velvety, smother them with a seriously tasty hot sauce, sprinkle chopped garlic and spring onions on top, then drizzle over smoking hot oil to bind everything together.  All these happen in a single heatproof dish nestled in a steamer from start to finish.  There is nothing more to say, other than that it is absolutely delicious with steamed rice.  

Serves 3-4

INGREDIENTS:

• 2-3 Asian eggplants, about 350g / 12oz
• 3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
• 1 spring onion, finely chopped
• 1 teaspoon Chinese black vinegar
• 2 tablespoon light soy sauce
• 2 teaspoons oyster sauce
• ½ teaspoon sugar
• 1 teaspoon sesame oil
• 1 tablespoon chilli oil (Lao Gan Ma brand recommended, pictured above)
• 3 tablespoon vegetable oil or olive oil

METHOD

1. Make the sauce by combining the black vinegar, light soy sauce, oyster sauce, sugar, sesame oil and chilli oil in a bowl.  Stir to dissolve the sugar.
2. Cut each eggplants into 3 equal sections, then cut each section into batons.  Arrange them neatly in a heatproof rimmed dish in one layer, overlapping some to fit.
3. Set up a steamer* and fill the bottom pan with water.  Cover and turn the heat on high.  When the water is boiling, carefully lower the dish into the steamer.  Cover and let the eggplant steam for 8-10 minutes until tender.
4. Uncover and pour the prepared sauce evenly over the eggplant.  Scatter chopped spring onions on top of the eggplant.
5. Heat oil in a small saucepan until very hot and smoking lightly.  Remove from heat.  Carefully add the chopped garlic and let them sizzle in the oil for 10-15 seconds to release their fragrance, then pour the oil together with the garlic over the eggplant.
6. Remove the dish from the steamer.  Serve warm or in room temperature with steamed rice.

*For instructions on how to set up a steaming station, see my recipe for steamed chicken with Chinese sausages.