Sichuan-style Aubergine

This was the first dish I made from the new Chinese cookbook for Chin & Choo Taylor. I made this because of its simplicity and speed as it was a quick meal plus I love aubergines.

Ingredients –

3 tbsp vegetable oil

250g (9oz) aubergine (about 1 smal), cut into wedges 2-3cm (¾-1¼in) thick

½ tsp salt

⅔ tsp MSG

½ onion, finely chopped 10g (¼oz) fresh ginger, minced

1 tsp garlic purée

1½ tbsp spicy hot bean paste ( I didn’t have this so made my own with Korean gochujang miso paste at a ratio of 2:1)

6-8 dried chillies

½ tsp chilli flakes

2 tsp white vinegar

2 tsp brown sugar

⅓ tsp ground Sichuan peppercorns

2 tsp light soy sauce

2 tsp dark soy sauce

4½ tbsp water

Potato starch slurry – 1 tsp of potato starch & 1 tsp of water mixed to make a thickening agent.

30g (1oz) coriander, roughly chopped, plus a few leaves to garnish

Method –

Add 2 tbsp of oil to a wok or pan on high heat. When hot add the aubergine with half the salt and half the MSG.

Stir fry them until they brown and soften, remove from the heat and place in a colander to drain for a couple of minutes.

Add the remaining oil back into the wok. When hot add the onion, when it starts to brown add the ginger and garlic purée, remaining salt & MSG then add back into the aubergine.

In a bowl add the spicy hot bean paste ( or my alternative), dried chillies, chilli flakes, vinegar, sugar, sichuan pepper, the soy sauces and water and mix. Pour this over your aubergines and bring to the boil.