Cook with Me: Sautéed Soy-Garlic Eggplant with Ground Pork

Anyone else order this takeout dish all the time before-COVID? It’s the perfect dish to top over rice, right? Now you can make it at home like I do!

Having made it a dozen times by now, I figured it’s time to document and share the love. Without further ado, here’s the recipe I use to make 2 servings.

Prep

1. Defrost 1/4 lb of ground pork if frozen.
2. Wash 2 Asian eggplant (this is the straight thin variety).
3. Prep a big bowl of water with salt.
4. Chop eggplant into 1.5 inch diagonal chunks by chopping on the diagonal, turning the eggplant and chopping on the diagonal again, etc.
5. Soak chopped eggplant into the bowl of salt water.
6. Mix sauce in small bowl: 2 tablespoons light soy sauce, 1 tablespoon water, 1 teaspoon sugar, 1 teaspoon corn starch.
7. Mince 2 cloves of garlic.
8. When you’re ready to cook (at least 10 minutes after initial eggplant soak), dump the water out of the eggplant bowl. Pat eggplant dry — it should be bone dry at this step!
9. Pour 1 tablespoon corn starch on top of eggplant. Toss to coat.

Cook

1. In a wok, on High heat, heat 2 tablespoons of peanut oil. Wait until oil is hot/shimmering.
2. Sauté eggplant for 30 seconds to coat all sides with oil.
3. Position each eggplant chunk to touch the bottom of the wok. Let sit for 2 minutes.
4. Flip by sautéing again. Continue doing this until the eggplant is cooked. Move on to the next step when the eggplant starts looking partially translucent.
5. Turn heat down to Medium heat. Move eggplant to the side of the wok, away from the fire. Add 1 tablespoon of peanut oil, and cook minced garlic until fragrant (approximately 30 seconds).
6. Add ground pork to wok. Mince and cook using spatula.
7. Once ground pork is no longer pink, add sauce mixture. Sauté until sauce is fully absorbed.
8. Top over rice, and add chopped spring onions as garnish if so desired. Enjoy!

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