This is a great dish to go with rice, with meat and vegetable together. It is a mix of sweet, spicy and a touch salty flavours, which go well together. The meat gives a little crunchy texture and the eggplant is very soft. Inspiration for this dish is from the Northern Chinese dish of minced pork with eggplants.

It is important to choose the longer Chinese eggplant variety for this dish, which has a bright purple exterior. This bright colour, alongside the dark colours of the sauce and the minced meat give a nice contrast to this dish which is super appetizing.

Preparation and cooking time: 20 minutes

Diet: Dairy free

Serving: serves 4

Ingredients

• 2 Chinese eggplants
• 300g minced chicken
• 2 cups of oil for frying and 2tbsp of oil for the stir fry
• 2tbsp minced garlic
• 2 red chilli, finely sliced
• 2tbsp chopped spring onion
• 1tbsp corn starch
• ¼ cup water
• 2tbsp light soy sauce
• 1tbsp dark soy sauce
• 1tbsp oyster sauce
• ½ tsp sesame seeds

Instructions

1. Clean and cut the eggplant into 6-7cm length and 1cm thick slices.
2. In a bowl, add water and corn starch together and keep aside.
3. In the wok over high flame and add the 2 cups of oil. After the oil is very hot, add the eggplants and deep fry for 2mins. (If you fry the brinjal for longer you won’t get the nice glazy purple colour) Remove the eggplant slices from the wok and place over a paper towel.
4. In the other wok over medium low fire add 2tbsp oil, add minced garlic and wait until you get the fragrance. This will take 1-2 minutes.
5. Add the minced meat and stir well for 4-5 minutes.
6. Add all the sauces and mix well for 2-3 minutes.
7. Finally, pour the corn starch and let it to cook over medium low heat for 2 minutes
8. On a plate, set the fried eggplant and pour the minced meat with sauce over the eggplant.
9. Sprinkle some sliced spring onions and red chillies to serve.

Notes:

You can add more chillies to make it spicier.

To get a sour flavour, some vinegar could be added.

You can mix together the eggplant slices and minced meat, instead of pouring the minced meat over the eggplants.