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Chinese Eggplant in Garlic Sauce

Chinese Eggplant in Garlic Sauce

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This Chinese Eggplant in Garlic Sauce Stir Fry (魚香茄子) is not only delicious but also easy to make! A great side dish or a vegetarian entrée.

Name Origin

Eggplant in Garlic Sauce Stir Fry in Chinese is 魚香茄子 (pronounced Yu Xiang Qie Zi). “Qie Zi” means Eggplants in Mandarin Chinese. “Yu Xiang” actually literally translates to “fish fragrant” but the interesting part is that this dish has zero seafood in it. It’s called “fish fragrant” because it uses the ingredients/sauces that is often used to cook fish!

Yu Xiang sauce usually consists of sugar, vinegar, doubanjiang, and soy sauce. There are various versions so sometimes you will see ingredients such as chili peppers, Sichuan peppercorn, depending on the recipe.

Type of Eggplants

There are several types of eggplant varieties – American, Italian, Thai, Japanese, Chinese, etc. For this recipe, we will be using Chinese Eggplants.

Chinese Eggplants

Of the asian variety of eggplants, Chinese eggplants are a lot thinner than American and Italian eggplants. They have a thinner skin and are less bitter as it has less seeds (the seeds are what makes an eggplant slightly bitter).  

Since Chinse eggplants have a sweeter flesh with tender skin, which makes them perfect for stir fry and sauté recipes.

They are actually very similar to Japanese eggplants, but Chinese eggplants are a lot lighter in color. It’s good to know though, that you can easily substitute these two types of eggplants interchangeably in recipes as they cook similarly.

For this recipe, if you can’t find Chinese eggplants, but find some Japanese eggplants, you can substitute with Japanese eggplants.

Chili Bean Paste / Doubanjiang

Chilli Bean Paste aka Doubanjiang 豆瓣酱, is a chunky sauce you can buy at the store that is spicy and savory. It’s traditionally made from fermented broad beans, chili peppers, soybeans, salt and flour. There are also different ones you can find, for example some will add spicy chili oil in it already.

Chili Bean Paste is often used in Sichuan food (ex: mapo tofu), which might explain why I love it because I love Sichuan food (and my grandma was from there!). I use it in my Szechuan ChickenTwice Cooked Pork and Jalapeno Chicken.

You can buy it at your local Asian super market or even on Amazon such as this one: Lee Kum Kee LKK Chili Bean Sauce (Toban Djan).

How many calories in eggplant with garlic sauce?

For other recipes or when you order eggplants in garlic sauce in restaurants, you will want to check with them specifically, but the estimate of this recipe, if you eat this in 4 servings, would be about 143 calories per servings.

How to make Eggplant in Garlic Sauce?

Ingredients

  • 2 Chinese eggplants, cut in to 2 inch length
  • 1 tbsp vinegar or lemon juice
  • 2 tbsp cooking oil
  • 1/2 tbsp of minced fresh ginger
  • 2 cloves garlic, minced
  • 2 tbsp soy sauce
  • 1 tbsp chili bean sauce / doubanjiang
  • 1 tsp sugar
  • 2 green onions, finely chopped

Instructions

Slice eggplants in to 2-inch length.

Place eggplants in a bowl and fill with water. Add 1 tbsp of salt and either vinegar or lemon juice, and mix well. This will help keep the eggplants from browning and keep it more ‘purple’.

Allow it to soak for about 15 minutes. Mince your garlic and ginger, and chop your green onions if you haven’t already done so.

Remove from water, and pat dry with paper towel.

In a wok or cooking pan, add cooking oil, garlic, and ginger, and stir fry for about a minute.

Add eggplants and stir fry for about a minute, and then add soy sauce, chili bean sauce, and sugar. Stir fry for about 7 minutes or until eggplants are cooked thoroughly.

Add the chopped green onions, and mix well.

Remove from heat and serve!

And… that’s it! Dump all that on a plate and enjoy your delicious home made Chinese cuisine!

This an be a delicious veggie entree, but I always eat it as a side! Looking for an entree to go with?  Here’s my most popular chicken entree – Easy Coconut Milk Curry Chicken!

Chinese Eggplant in Garlic Sauce

Chinese Eggplant in Garlic Sauce

This Chinese Eggplant in Garlic Sauce Stir Fry (魚香茄子) is not only delicious but also easy to make! A great side dish or a vegetarian entrée.

Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 15 minutes
Total Time 30 minutes

Ingredients

  • 2 Chinese eggplants, cut in to 2 inch length
  • 1 tbsp vinegar or lemon juice
  • 2 tbsp cooking oil
  • 1/2 tbsp of minced fresh ginger
  • 2 cloves garlic, minced
  • 2 tbsp soy sauce
  • 1 tbsp chili bean sauce / doubanjiang
  • 1 tsp sugar
  • 2 green onions, finely chopped

Instructions

    1. Slice eggplants in to 2-inch length.
    2. Place eggplants in a bowl and fill with water. Add 1 tbsp of salt and either vinegar or lemon juice, and mix well. This will help keep the eggplants from browning and keep it more ‘purple’.
    3. Allow it to soak for about 15 minutes. Mince your garlic and ginger, and chop your green onions if you haven’t already done so.
    4. Remove from water, and pat dry with paper towel.
    5. In a wok or cooking pan, add cooking oil, garlic, and ginger, and stir fry for about a minute.
    6. Add eggplants and stir fry for about a minute, and then add soy sauce, chili bean sauce, and sugar. Stir fry for about 7 minutes or until eggplants are cooked thoroughly.
    7. Add the chopped green onions, and mix well.
    8. Remove from heat and serve!

Notes

Paleo Eggplant in Garlic Sauce

It’s pretty easy to customize this recipe to make it paleo friendly. You just have to substitute some of the ingredients.

  • Soy sauce is not paleo, so substitute this with coconut amino. The flavor is similar enough that coconut amino is often used as a paleo substitute for soy sauce.
  • For the Hot Chili Bean Sauce, you will want to use a paleo chili sauce/paste instead of Doubanjiang. This is because Beans are legumes and legumes are not paleo.
  • Instead of Sugar, you can skip it complete (though it will remove a certain sweet flavor) or you can substitute with Honey.

Nutrition Information:

Yield:

4

Serving Size:

1

Amount Per Serving: Calories: 166Total Fat: 5gSaturated Fat: 0gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 4gCholesterol: 1mgSodium: 485mgCarbohydrates: 30gFiber: 8gSugar: 12gProtein: 4g

The nutrition information for this recipe is an approximate total per serving. Please double check the nutrition information for your exact ingredients and brands for more precise nutrition information.

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Mattie

Wednesday 13th of December 2023

This is amazing! I doubled the sauce because we had mushrooms that needed to be used and I figured they would work well in this recipe. I was right, and my carnivore husband loved it!

TinaTsai

Wednesday 13th of December 2023

I'm so glad to hear it!! :D Adding mushrooms sounds delicious too!

frances dee co

Sunday 20th of November 2022

in your Taiwanese three cup chicken what is a substitue for 1 tbsp brown rock sugar? are these granules, as we have white rock sugar in blocks how do you measure it for 1 tbsp>?

can you email the answer to my mail, as stated below...i love your very simple explanation and videos...helps us learn quickly....thank you again....

TinaTsai

Sunday 20th of November 2022

Thank you! I will also email you - but basically I just eye ball it. If the rock sugar is about the same as the 1 tbsp measuring spoon, then you should be good. I'm not sure how big your rock sugar blocks are, so you will probably have to just estimate - maybe 2-3 depending on the size of the blocks...

Jocelyn Panem

Tuesday 29th of March 2022

Thank you for the recipe

TinaTsai

Tuesday 29th of March 2022

You're welcome!!

Anna

Tuesday 3rd of January 2017

You're tip as to how cook eggplant without it going soggy has cured my aversion to cooking it!!my vegeterian son agrees the basic prep instructions will inspire me to try do experimental dishes with different types of vegetables and flavors p.s . You're instructions both.visual and written were Very helpful

Tina T

Tuesday 3rd of January 2017

Nice! Super glad to help!! :D

BB

Saturday 8th of October 2016

Can you describe how you achieve the cut that you show in the picture - not sure how you are slicing. Thanks!

Tina T

Sunday 9th of October 2016

Sure! I just slice it at an angle! Like a little bit diagonally. Not straight down at a 90 degree angle :)

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