Steamed Eggplant with Yuxiang Sauce
Ingredients: eggplant, rice vinegar, red bell pepper, green onion, ginger · 45 min cook time · 268kcal · ~₩11,700
Ingredients
340g eggplant, 2tbsp rice vinegar, 0.5ea red bell pepper, 2stalks green onion, 0.5oz ginger, 2ea chili, 0.5oz garlic, 4oz pork shoulder, 1tbsp cornstarch, 2tbsp water, 2tsp light soy sauce, 1tbsp oyster sauce, 2tsp dark soy sauce, 2tbsp sugar, 1tsp cooking wine, 1tsp sesame oil, 2tbsp neutral vegetable oil
Instructions
1. Trim the stems of the eggplants. Peel alternating stripes of the skin to balance toughness and structural integrity during steaming. Don't peel it completely, or the eggplant will be too soft. If you leave all the peel on, it will be too hard and tough to chew.
2. Quarter the eggplant. Gently take some of the core out, as it has a big, soft core. If you don't remove the core, the texture won't be as good.
3. Soak the cut eggplants in a water-vinegar solution for about 10 minutes to remove any bitterness. Place a plate on top to weigh them down.
4. Dice half a red bell pepper.
5. Separate the green onion whites and greens. Dice the green onion whites for stir-frying and sprinkle the greens for garnish at the end.
6. Mince 1/2 oz of ginger and 2 chilies. If you prefer spicy food, add more.
7. Mince 1/2 oz of garlic. Trim the end, smash it into a paste, and chop it up.
8. Prepare the protein. We're using 4 oz of pork shoulder. Slice the pork into 1/4-inch slices. Since we're going to mince it, don't worry about the grain. Turn the pork 90 degrees and begin to mince.
9. Place the minced pork in a bowl and add 1 tbsp of cornstarch, 2 tbsp of water, and 2 tsp of light soy sauce. Mix it up so the cornstarch dissolves. My dad likes to mix the marinade on the side before incorporating the meat to ensure no clumps form. Mix the meat in. It should soak up all the marinade.
10. Prepare the sauce. In a bowl, add 2 tsp of light soy sauce, 1 tbsp of oyster sauce, 2 tsp of dark soy sauce, 1 tbsp of rice vinegar, 2 tbsp of sugar, and 4 tbsp of water. Adjust your sauce to taste.
11. Prepare the slurry. In a separate bowl, mix together 1 tsp of cornstarch with 1 tbsp of water and set it aside.
12. Remove the eggplants from the water and squeeze to remove any excess moisture. See how the water is yellow? After soaking in vinegar, the eggplants will have less of a bitter, astringent flavor.
13. Cut the eggplants. Not too big, not too small. Cut at an angle. Set them down nicely. My dad prefers to cut the eggplants after soaking to help with arranging them on the plate. Slice your eggplants into 1/2" thick pieces.
14. Steam the eggplants. Heat on. Lid on. The water's boiling, so let's put them in. Cover a pot or pan of water and bring it to a boil. Once the water begins to boil, place your eggplants in. If you don't have iron hands like my dad, you can use a plate gripper to gently place your plate in. Steam over high heat. These eggplants should be done steaming in about 12 minutes. Let's see if they're tender yet. 12 minutes. Grab it by two sides. Lift it out of the steamer. Pour out the excess liquid. Set the plate here. Pour all the excess water out. It's much better to eat tender eggplant. Eggplant should be tender, but it shouldn't just fall apart when you bite into it. Don't eat crunchy eggplant. It doesn't taste good. It'll be bitter. It shrunk as it steamed. Now we only have this much.
15. Stir-fry. High heat. Our wok is hot enough now. Add 2 tbsp of oil. Now, heat up a clean wok and add your oil. Today we're using a neutral vegetable oil, but you can use any neutral oil that you have on hand. Swirl the oil around with your spatula. Spread the oil out. Once the oil begins to smoke, add in your marinated pork. We'll leave the pork alone to cook for a bit first before flipping it. This helps to prevent it from sticking to the wok. Don't stir or flip the meat right when you put it in. No, if you flip it right away, it'll stick to the wok. It'll stick. Spread it out. Now, add the garlic. Add the green onion whites, cook them with the meat. Stir-fry all of your aromatics with your pork. Separate the pork. Use the spatula to chop the pork up. Lower the heat a bit. The garlic is very aromatic now. The ginger and garlic have bloomed nicely. High heat. Add a splash of cooking wine to make it even more aromatic. We'll add 1 tsp of cooking wine. After adding your cooking wine, add your sauce mixture. Add the red bell peppers and stir-fry for 2 minutes. My dad adds in an extra tbsp of water here to make up for the evaporation. Add it slowly, over low heat. Now on low heat, add in your slurry while mixing the sauce. Doing this on low heat helps prevent clumping. This is enough. Lower the heat. Heat off. Add the sesame oil. After adding in about 1 tsp of sesame oil, you're ready to plate!
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