This pork dish is also really good with chicken or prawns – both work well with the eggplant, which is the hero of the dish.
Ingredients
vegetable oil, for deep-frying
1 eggplant, diced into 3cm-4cm pieces
150g minced pork belly
2 spring onions, sliced
2 tbsp finely chopped ginger
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 tbsp chilli bean paste
2 tsp Shaoxing wine
2 tbsp light soy sauce
2 tsp castor sugar
4 tbsp fresh chicken stock
2 spring onions, julienned
pinch of ground Sichuan pepper
coriander leaves, for garnish
Method
1. Heat the oil in a wok or deep-fryer until almost smoking (about 180C), and deep-fry the eggplant in batches until golden brown (2 to 3 minutes), then drain on paper towel. Carefully pour out the oil and wipe the wok clean.
2. Heat 3 tablespoons of vegetable oil in the wok over a high heat, add pork and stir-fry until it begins to colour (3-5 minutes).
3. Add the spring onion, ginger, garlic and bean paste and stir-fry until fragrant.
4. Deglaze wok with Shaoxing, add soy sauce, sugar and chicken stock, and return eggplant to the wok and simmer until the sauce thickens slightly (3 to 4 minutes).
5. Spoon pork and eggplant onto a serving plate, top with the julienned spring onions and sprinkle with Sichuan pepper.
Serve with my special fried rice.