Chinese Eggplant Recipe

Have you ever been to an Asian supermarket (in Atlanta – Buford Farmer’s Market, Hmart)?  You can find the freshest, most diverse selection of produce at extremely reasonable prices.

While I was at the Buford Farmer’s Market yesterday, browsing through the enormous produce section, I came up with an idea of trying a new vegetable dish every week.  Something that I’ve never cooked before.  So this week, I picked Chinese eggplant.

Here’s an authentic Chinese eggplant recipe that I found while browsing around online.  So I took it and made a few tiny changes, and here we go!

Ingredients (for 2 servings)
- 1 eggplant
- 1 teaspoon ginger powder
- 2 tbsp soy sauce
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon sugar
- olive oil

Instructions:
1. After washing the eggplant, cut off the stem and then chop the eggplant up into pieces. If you slice diagonally, then more of the eggplant will be exposed to the heat while cooking, thus cooking the eggplant faster.

2. Cover the bottom of the wok with olive oil, the less you use, the healthier the dish will be.  I used about 2 tablespoons.

3.  Saute some minced garlic in the oil, after about 1 minute add the eggplant slices.

4.  When the eggplant starts getting a bit softer (about 4 minutes) Add the soy sauce, salt and sugar.

4.  If the eggplant starts looking too dry, add 1/4 cup of water while cooking.  The eggplant will absorb the water so you should end up with a dry dish at the end.  The eggplant is done when it becomes soft and mushy.