Easy Chinese Eggplant with Minced Pork

One of my favorite Sichuan dishes, my version of Chinese eggplant with minced pork is easy to make, and packs a ton of spicy, umami flavor. Serve it on a bed of white rice for a cozy weeknight meal.

Growing up, I had a lot of Vietnamese dishes and Cantonese dishes, but I never had something like this Chinese eggplant dish until I got to college. I have since come to love Chinese eggplant dishes. What makes this Chinese eggplant with minced pork dish so special is the sauce. It has a spicy, umami sauce whose flavor comes from doubanjiang, a spicy bean sauce.

Important notes about key ingredients

• Chinese eggplants – I used 2 large Chinese eggplants for this dish, but I tested this with Japanese eggplant as well. Both work for this recipe, but I definitely prefer the Chinese eggplants. It tastes closer to what you get at restaurants!
• Ground pork – I used ground pork for this recipe because its sweetness balances about the umami flavors from the salt. If you really like pork, feel free to use more, or if you want to use less, use less. I have also tested this with ground chicken, and it works well.
• Shaoxing wine – This is a super important ingredient in this dish. I tried making this dish without it, and it did not taste the same. Shaoxing wine is a rice wine that is used to flavor food as well as camouflage the inherit gross flavors in meat. Substitute with dry sherry if you can’t find it.

Tips on how to make the perfect Chinese eggplant with minced pork

Prepping Chinese eggplant properly

It is really important to prep the eggplant properly. I used a combination of rice wine vinegar and water to add moisture to the eggplant and take away some of the bitter taste. You can also do this with salt and water if you don’t have vinegar.

Cooking Chinese eggplant properly

The next most important thing is to cook the eggplant with enough oil. Eggplant is like a sponge, and readily absorbs oil which helps make it the perfect tender texture. I cooked my eggplant in batches and used ~1 tbsp of oil each time to try to minimize the amount of oil in the dish. You can use up to 2 tbsp. Be careful to not use too much as the eggplant will become soggy.

Use high heat to cook this dish

This is essentially a stir fry, so make sure to use high heat to cook your dish. Like I mentioned in various stir fry dishes (see my red bean curd stir fry or my mapo tofu), using high heat prevents your dish from becoming soggy. Every ingredient has water in it, and cooking on low heat causes the water to come out and pool in the sauce.

What can you serve with Chinese eggplant with minced pork?

This dish is best served with white rice. Grab my rice cooking tips from my guide on how to cookie rice. Other good options are any other kinds of rice like red or brown rice.

Did you make this dish?

If you made this dish, I would love to see!

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