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Chinese Steamed Eggplant with Garlic Soy Sauce is a tasty veggie side dish that we like to make at home! It is made by steaming Chinese eggplants until it is soft and tender, then drizzling it with a flavorful sauce.

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.

How to make Chinese Steamed Eggplant

First gather your ingredients:

• 1 large Chinese eggplant
• 3 cloves of garlic, roughly chopped
• 3 tbsp cooking oil
• 1 green onion, chopped
• 2 tbsp soy sauce

Slice eggplants in to small wedges.

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 chop your green onions if you haven’t already done so.

Remove from water, and pat dry with paper towel.

Place eggplants to a steamer, making sure to leave some space between so they are not overlapping.

Steam for about 10 minutes, and then remove from heat.

While waiting for the eggplants to steam, in a small bowl, mix minced garlic, green onions, and soy sauce and mix well. Also, heat cooking oil in a small cooking pan until it starts to smoke lightly.

Remove eggplants from steamer, and pour garlic, green onions and soy sauce mixture over the eggplant.

Then remove hot oil from heat, and carefully pour it over all the eggplants – you should hear a nice sizzle!

Serve as a veggie side dish, or appetizer!

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