Do you like spicy food? Then you will just adore this hot and spicy Szechuan eggplant dish with ground pork and soy sauce… This is a Chinese classic, try it!
Szechuan eggplant and ground pork.
You can find this dish everywhere in China. You will find it as a stir fry, others versions in a clay pot over a hot fire.
What do you call it again?
Clay Pot
Copycat recipes?
This one might be just that.
This spicy Szechuan eggplant with ground pork is an amazing dish that I tasted for the very first time in Hong Kong a couple of years ago. We landed in Hong Kong around 7 am, early in the morning. I get so grumpy when I am jet lagged.
Hong Kong
And the hubs just knows what to do about it.
First off he brings me to a good coffee place. Followed by a powerful meal in a food court nearby. That is where he ordered this dish. Eggplants and pork mince.
That woke me up.
What a delicacy!
Best Spicy Szechuan Eggplant & Pork
Lord, that flavor just blew me right off my socks in a second flat!
I was so crazy about it and wondered why I hadn’t cooked that one up yet. Swearing I am going to throw myself into the very secrets behind Szechuan cuisine and stuff once I get back home.
You probably recognise that state of foodie frenzy.
Nevertheless it did take a while though before I finally shoved this recipe into my weekly menu.
Food Court
Verdict: great flavor, also an absolute flashback to that morning when we had the same dish in a Szechuan food court in the heart of Hong Kong’s Kowloon district.
Not the perfect copy dish, but seriously close to the true Szechuan flavors we tasted back then.
Do you love this Hong Kong style eggplant dish?
Then you should also check out another Hong Kong specialty: my fried green beans in XO sauce!
Enjoy!
Best Spicy Szechuan Eggplant & Pork Recipe
Like spicy? Then you will adore this hot Szechuan eggplant dish with ground pork and soy sauce!
- 1 large fresh eggplant
- 3,5 oz ground pork (100 g)
- 1 cup beef stock (240 ml), warm
- 3 tbsp dark soy sauce
- 2 tbsp hot chili sauce
- 1 tsp toasted sesame oil optional
- 2 tbsp fish sauce
- garlic powder
- 2 tbsp vegetable oil
- Pour the vegetable oil in a large non-stick pan. Add half of the soy sauce, a pinch of garlic powder, half of the chili sauce and half of the fish sauce. Place the pan over medium-high heat.
- Stir well. Once the oil and sauces start to simmer, add the ground pork.
- Stir well and cook the pork mince for 4 to 5 minutes until a little browned and cooked through.
- Then transfer the mince to a clean plate and put it aside until needed later on. Leave the remaining soy sauce mixture in the pan. Slice and chop the eggplant into thick sticks and add it to the pan.
- Pour in ¾ cup (180 ml) of the beef stock and add the sesame oil (optional), the rest of the soy sauce, fish sauce and chili sauce.
- Don’t stir the eggplant but put a lid on the pan and cook the eggplant for 7 to 8 minutes until very soft. The beef stock should have disappeared more or less.
- Then pour in the rest of the beef stock.
- Shake the pan and transfer the cooked eggplant to a large serving bowl. Add the cooked for mince to the pan again.
- Stir the mince, turn the heat off and check the seasoning. Add extra hot chili sauce, soy sauce or fish sauce to taste if necessary.
- Pour the pork mince and remaining sauce over the eggplant. Serve hot.
What is Szechuan cuisine exactly?
Szechuan cuisine, aka Sichuan cuisine, is a style of Chinese cuisine that originated from the Sichuan province in southwestern China.
It is one of the eight major Chinese cuisines and has the largest market share in China.
Szechuan cuisine is characterized by its bold flavors, particularly the pungency and spiciness resulting from liberal use of garlic and chili peppers, as well as the unique flavor of Sichuan pepper.
It features a wide range of dishes that are hot, spicy, sour, sweet, bitter, fragrant/aromatic and salty. Famous Szechuan dishes include Kung Pao chicken, Ma Po tofu, twice-cooked pork and Szechuan hotpot.
Szechuan cuisine is also known for its use of various cooking methods and seasonings such as pepper and prickly ashes.
Why is Szechuan eggplant and pork mince so popular?
It is a popular dish in Chinese cuisine because of its simple yet flavorful preparation.
It often contains eggplant, minced pork, garlic, ginger, green onion and light soy sauce. The eggplant is stir-fried in light oil and then braised in a Szechuan sauce mixture until it becomes flavorful and tender.
The dish is also known as “Chinese eggplants with minced pork” or “肉末烧茄子” in Chinese.
The minced pork improves the flavor, enriching the layers of a humble eggplant stir-fry. The aroma of the minced pork elevates the taste of the dish greatly even with a very small portion. Garlic, ginger, and green onion create a basic savory base for braised eggplants.
Light soy sauce can provide a basic savory taste.
Can I add another meat than pork?
While it is possible to add other types of minced meat to the stew, it may alter the flavor profile of this Szechuan eggplant dish.
If you are interested in trying out a different variation of the dish, you can try substituting the pork with minced chicken or beef.
However, keep in mind that this will change the taste of the dish significantly. You can also try adding other ingredients such as mushrooms, bell peppers, or carrots to the stew to add more flavor and texture.
Glad you like this one as well, friends!! I love eggplant a lot and the ones that grow here are soooo delicious! I cook with them every week but I guess this spicy recipe is our favorite… so glad I picked this idea up in Asia! Grts from Tenerife!! 🙂