This is a quick and easy Chinese eggplant recipe with a sweet and tangy garlic sauce. The eggplant pieces are so tender, they almost melt in your mouth. It’s a new favorite in my kitchen! Ready in 20 minutes from start to finish.
Making a stir fry using eggplant can be challenging since achieving the right texture is supremely important to the success of the dish.
There is nothing more disappointing than to be served a plate of semi cooked, sort of crunchy eggplant, sitting in a puddle of oil. This is the reason why I no longer order eggplant dishes from restaurants and started making my own at home. This Chinese eggplant recipe is very easy to make and yields tender eggplant pieces perfectly seasoned with garlic and a salty, vinegary sauce. Delicious!
Table of contents
What is Chinese Eggplant?
Unlike the big, bulbous American eggplant that’s used for popular dishes like eggplant parmesan, a Chinese eggplant, which is the same as a Japanese eggplant, or an Asian eggplant, is much smaller and longer. Its skin is thinner and the flavor is also milder because it contains a lot less seeds (which cause eggplant to taste bitter) than the American type.
Because of it smaller size and thinner skin, Chinese eggplants are perfect for stir frying, sauteing, and grilling, since they take less time to cook and have a milder taste.
Chinese Eggplant with Garlic Sauce Ingredients
- Chinese eggplant: As previously mentioned, if you cannot find anything labeled Chinese eggplant, look for Japanese or Asian eggplant. They are all the same.
- Peanut oil: Peanut oil has a nutty flavor and a high smoke point, which makes it the ideal oil for stir fries.
- Garlic: Just like with Italian food, Chinese food cannot be made without garlic! Garlic provides that pungent and slightly sweet and floral taste that we’ve all come to love so much.
- Ginger: Ginger adds a little heat and earthiness to this eggplant recipe.
- Chinese dried red chilis: Chinese dried red chilis infuses the dish with smokiness and heat. If you can’t handle too much heat, remove the seeds as they are what makes peppers so hot.
- Scallions: Scallions are added last to provide a refreshing crunch and a colorful element.
- Sauce: A mixture of soy sauce, sugar, chinkiang vinegar, shaoxing wine, and sesame oil. Chinese garlic sauce has an iconic flavor profile that can be found in many Chinese dishes. It’s sour, salty, nutty, and a little sweet.
How to Make Chinese Eggplant with Garlic Sauce
Scroll all the way down to the recipe card to get the full Chinese eggplant recipe.
- Make the sauce. Whisk the ingredients for the sauce in a bowl and leave it on the side.
- Chop and stir fry the eggplant. Stir fry the eggplant with a little oil for a few minutes over medium heat, until they are tender. Transfer the eggplant to a bowl.
- Cook the garlic, ginger, and chilis. Use the same pan and after cooking them for a minute, return the eggplant to the pan.
- Add the sauce and scallions. Stir fry for a quick minute and drizzle a little sesame oil.
- Serve with warm rice. Brown or white rice. Enjoy!
Tips on Cooking with Eggplant
- Take your time. Depending on the size, an eggplant can take up to 25 minutes to entirely cook. So it’s important that you stay patient when cooking with eggplant as they take time to soften. However, for this recipe, the eggplant shouldn’t take more than 5 to 7 minutes since we are using Chinese eggplant, and are slicing them bite size.
- Take it easy on the oil. Eggplants only need a little oil to cook. Since they absorb oil really quickly, adding too much will only make them mushy.
- Use salt to draw excess water. I only use this tip when I am cooking with American or certain types of European eggplants that are on the bigger and thicker side. By lightly salting them (they must be sliced for this tip to work) and leaving them for an hour or so, the excess water will make it easier for the eggplant to soak up the delicious sauce it is meant to be paired with. Wipe each piece clean with a paper towel before cooking with them.
- For Chinese eggplant, another way I absolutely love to cook them is to put them whole, in a skillet, with no oil, over medium heat. This a no fail trick and yields the most tender and perfect eggplant. Just turn them over after 2-3 minutes, when the skin is charred. Test the doneness with a knife and voila! Slice and serve on top of pasta, or drizzle with tsuyu or your favorite dressing. I taught this trick to my mother and now she uses it all the time!
Storage
You can store the leftovers in an airtight container and refrigerate for up to 3 days.
Make ahead: This Chinese eggplant recipe can be made the day before and will still taste great the next days. For best results, make the sauce ahead of time and save it in the fridge. The sauce will keep for up to 1 month. I also always keep a container of chopped scallions in the fridge. It’s a huge time saver if you cook a lot of Asian food like I do.
Frequently Asked Questions
Try using zucchini or thinly sliced potatoes (preferably chopped into thin sticks). Potatoes are often used in Szechuan cuisine despite the fact that we don’t see them very often on menus here in the US. They are a staple ingredient for the simple reason that they are cheap and take on pretty much any flavor you add to them.
Technically yes, you can, but I wouldn’t recommend it. The reason being that American eggplant has a thicker skin, lots of seeds which can be very unpleasant in a stir fry, and a stronger, more acrid, taste.
It depends on the eggplant. For smaller and younger eggplants like a Chinese eggplant, there is no need to since the skin is thin. For larger eggplants, yes, you should always peel the skin as it may be old and have a tough texture.
What to Serve with this Chinese Eggplant Recipe
Aside from a warm bowl of rice, there are plenty of other Chinese classics you can serve with this dish.
Some of my favorite are:
- Bok choy with garlic and oyster sauce
- Singapore Chow Mei Fun
- Moo Goo Gai Pan
- Egg fried rice
- Vegetable wonton soup
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Did you like this recipe? Are there changes you made that you would like to share? Share your tips and recommendations in the comments section below!
Print
Chinese Eggplant with Garlic Sauce
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 10 minutes
- Total Time: 20 minutes
- Yield: 2 1x
- Category: Stir Fry
- Method: Skillet
- Cuisine: Chinese
- Diet: Vegan
Description
This is a tender Chinese eggplant stir fry dressed in a spicy garlic sauce. Ready in 20 minutes from start to finish.
Ingredients
- 2 to 3 long Japanese or Chinese eggplant, sliced in half lengthwise and chopped
- 2 tablespoons peanut oil
- 4 large cloves garlic, peeled and minced
- 1 tablespoon ginger, peeled and minced
- 2 to 3 Chinese dried red chilis, chopped
- 4 scallions, finely chopped on the bias
Sauce
- 2 tablespoons soy sauce
- 2 teaspoons granulated sugar
- 1 tablespoon chinkiang vinegar
- 1 tablespoon shaoxing wine or dry sherry
- 1 teaspoon sesame oil
Instructions
- Whisk all the ingredients for the sauce into a bowl and set aside.
- In a large pan over medium high heat, add 1 tablespoon peanut oil and eggplant. Stir fry for a few minutes (about 5 minutes) until the sides are golden brown and the center is tender.
- Transfer eggplant to a plate and add remaining 1 tablespoon peanut oil to the pan. Add garlic, ginger, red chilis and cook for 1 minute.
- Add eggplant and scallions, toss and pour the sauce. Stir fry for 1 minute, until all the vegetables are coated.
- Turn the heat off and serve with white or brown rice.
Notes
Leftovers: Store the leftovers in an airtight storage container and refrigerate for up to 3 days.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 2
- Calories: 194
- Sugar: 6.2g
- Sodium: 883.8mg
- Fat: 16.5g
- Saturated Fat: 1.4g
- Unsaturated Fat: 5g
- Trans Fat: 0g
- Carbohydrates: 10.1g
- Fiber: 1.7g
- Protein: 2.2g
- Cholesterol: 0mg
Questions and Reviews
I made this for lunch today and we both liked it a lot. I made half a recipe except a full recipe of sauce. The only thing I did differently was that I had only a regular eggplant. I am a major eggplant fan and this recipe is a keeper! Thanks!
Thank you Yafa!
We love the recipe! It taste so good. I’m on keto diet so I used monk fruit sugar In replace of regular white sugar. You can never tell the difference. I will definitely make this as a our regular dish. Thank you for sharing.
Thank you Irene! 🙂
Actually, i’m not a huge eggplant fan, but i tried your recipe and it was delicious! It tastes so deep, so good! Thanks so much for sharing.
This was great! I used a jalapeño because that’s what I had… added a bell pepper to please my husband who doesn’t love eggplant like I do… it tasted like what I remember from the last time I ordered it from a Chinese restaurant… yum!
Love it. I personally am sensitive to the sesame oil taste, so this last time I made it I doubled the sauce recipe, but kept the sesame oil at 1 tsp. Also subbed chili flakes for the spice and added 1 more eggplant (just the right amount of sauce for me). Love this. Like to add bell peppers as well. Thank you for the great recipe! I’ve made it multiple times now.
I’m so happy you like this recipe, thank you Summer!
Amazing recipe, flavors, super simple. Can’t wait to make it again.
Hi Caroline,
I don’t have chilies since my mom isn’t a fan of too spicy. Could I leave out the chilies and put in a little chili flakes instead? Hopefully it won’t lose much flavor leaving the chilies out. Thanks so much.
Yes absolutely! The chilies add a little heat but not enough to change the flavor of the dish 🙂
DELICIOUS! We love eggplant. Used 2 lg regular eggplants. Doubled recipe. Added 2 tubs marinated baked tofu cubes at the very end, marinated in soy sauce and sesame oil. Baked 375 degree oven for 45 min. Baked it bcuz I didn’t want tofu to fall apart once it gets stirred in eggplant. Used rice vinegar and balsamic vinegar for chinese vinegar. Omitted sugar(mainly bcuz I forgot) I also had to use up a yellow onion, sliced in half moons and sauteed with garlic mix. Didn’t use chili’s chopped, roasted several dried chilis in dry fry pan first, until very dark. Did that so my daughters could pick it out if they were too hot. THANK YOU for the recipe! So very EASY. Wish I could post the picture I took
Thank you so much Adela! Share your picture with on Instagram if you can, I’d love to see your dish!:)
We really enjoy this recipe and sometimes I add cubed tofu served with rice for a Meatless Monday dinner.
BONUS: Every time my husband and I have had this we’ve lost weight.
Victoria, adding cubed tofu is such a great idea! I will try it next time I make this (which is almost weekly ;P )
This is amazing! Thanks so much for the recipe!
I made the garlic eggplant today and it was really delicious. I didn’t have the Chinese vinegar, so I substituted rice vinegar and it still was yummy! Thank you!!
Thank you Sheetal for sharing that with me, I will add it to the recipe as a substitute!
Hi Caroline, hope you’re well? I would love to try this recipe and just wondering what vinegar you’d recommend I substitute for the chinkiang vinegar?
Hi Jo, you asked this question at the perfect time since someone just mentioned rice vinegar as a great substitute to chinkiang vinegar 🙂
This is one of my favorite recipes. I had to laugh when it said for those not big on eggplant use other vegetables. I say…. FOR THOSE NOT BIG ON EGGPLANT TRY THIS DELICIOUS RECIPE!!! YOU MAY CHANGE YOUR MIND!! My husband HATES eggplant but LOVES this recipe. If you use the mild eggplant and still hate it, you hate eggplant lol Thanks for writing it down to share.
That’s so great Lili! Your hubby is now an eggplant lover yay!
Haven’t tried it YET…… but surely will.
Very simple and delicious. A great find.
I made this and loved it, will be making it again
Thank you for posting this! I had the ingredients at home but hadn’t used them in this combination. It was so easy and so tasty! There will be no leftovers tonight! Thanks so much!
Fabulous and easy. Thanks
Another winner! This is another recipe I took away from the Chinese cookbook I mentioned elsewhere. And I love that you didn’t coat the eggplant in batter and fry it. I’ve totally written off many restaurants who ignored my request to not coat and fry/to leave the eggplant plain. I used to think it was just an obstinate cook, but I finally realized that they probably either by pre-fried eggplant or pre-fry it in huge batches themselves. Anyway you look at it, bad signs at a Chinese restaurant. 😉 Thanks!
Couldn’t find a lot of these ingredients so I substituted sherry cooking wine for the shaoxing wine, balsamic vinegar for the chankiang, vinegar, a regular eggplant for the chinese one, peanut oil for sesame oil and a jalapeno pepper for the chinese dried red pepper. I was worried that because I used quite a lot of substitutions it would alter the flavor too much. But my husband absolutely adores anything with eggplant in it so I gave it a go. It took a while to really saute the eggplant, because it has a tougher skin than the chinese one, but once I had done that, everything else worked incredibly well. My husband is currently on his third helping of it and is a very happy man tonight! This is going to become a regular on our family menu. Next time I will stop in at the Chinese market to make sure I get all the authentic ingredients. Thanks for sharing this recipe it was a big hit!
That’s wonderful Sarah! All these substitutions are so good though, I would have done the same thing. You didn’t stray away too much from the original flavor – your husband is lucky to have such a great cook! 🙂
Yummy! It took exactly 20 minutes – my rice cooker was 16 minutes. I put my eggplant into a bowl and salted it, allowing it to sit while making the sauce. I also doubled the sauce because I like things saucy. Will make again!
Perfect timing!