Crispy Chinese Eggplant bites cooked in a sticky, spicy, savory-sweet garlic sauce ⏤ simple but packed with flavor! Perfect for weeknight dinners, this recipe is better-than-takeout and naturally Vegan!
Chinese Eggplants With Spicy Garlic Sauce
Hey loves! I’m on a sticky-soy-sauce recipe roll ⏤ sticky sweet soy curls, tofu, chicken, and now eggplants. I can’t have enough. Today I’m sharing this quick and easy main/side with you and it’s all about that savory-sweet sticky soy glaze with a touch of garlic and heat.
It can’t get any better. Garlicky, spicy, sticky, sweet, hasta luego b*tches, I’m already tip-toeing downstairs to make another batch.
How To Make Chinese Eggplants
With Spicy Garlic Sauce
All you do is coat the chopped eggplants with cornstarch and cook them until crispy. The cornstarch helps with crispiness so don’t skip it!
Then, you remove the eggplants from the skillet, stir fry the garlic & ginger, make the sauce (you just combine all the ingredients together in a small bowl), add the eggplants back to the skillet, pour in the sauce and cook it until thick – DONE!!!
How easy is that? Look, you’re not even ready for how flavorful this simple dish is. I’m telling you.
3 Tips For Success
- Use Chinese/Japanese eggplants for best results! Long Asian eggplants have a slightly different flavor & texture and work best for this recipe but I’ve successfully used regular eggplants so don’t stress if you can’t find them!
- You know how eggplants have that natural bitterness to them? Yea we don’t want that! Chop the eggplants into bite size pieces, place them in a colander, sprinkle with salt and allow the eggplant to rest for 30/40 minutes. Begone bitterness.
- Serve over rice and top with sliced green onions, toasted sesame seeds and/or chili flakes for more heat!
HAPPY COOKING LOVES!! I hope you’ll love these Chinese Eggplants With Spicy Garlic Sauce as much as I do!
PS: Please leave a comment and/or give this recipe a rating ⭐️ if you make it! I LOVE hearing from you! 💘
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Chinese Eggplants With Spicy Garlic Sauce
Ingredients
For The Eggplants
- 2 eggplants chopped into bite sized pieces
- 1 tsp kosher salt
- 2 tbsp cornstarch
- 2 tbsp peanut oil or vegetable oil
For The Stir Fry
- 1/2 tbsp peanut oil or vegetable oil
- 3 cloves garlic minced
- 1 tbsp ginger minced
For The Sticky Sauce
- 1/4 cup water
- 2 and 1/2 tbsp soy sauce use gluten-free soy sauce for GF eaters
- 2 and 1/2 tbsp rice vinegar
- 2 tbsp brown sugar
- 1 tbsp cornstarch
Instructions
- Place the chopped eggplants in a colander, sprinkle with salt and allow to rest for 30-40 minutes. Pat dry, then transfer to a large shallow bowl and add in the cornstarch. Toss until evenly coated on all sides.
- In a large non-stick skillet over medium heat, add the peanut oil and heat until hot. Add in the eggplants and spread them into a single layer (they shouldn't overlap or they will turn soggy). Cook one side at a time until the eggplants are crispy on the outside and soft on the inside (about 8-10 minutes in total), then remove them from the skillet and transfer them to a clean plate.
- In a small bowl, add the water, soy sauce, rice vinegar, brown sugar and cornstarch. Mix until combined and the cornstarch is completely dissolved. Set aside.
- Add the peanut oil to the same skillet, place over medium heat and heat until hot, then add in the garlic and ginger. Stir fry until fragrant (don't let the garlic turn brown). Immediately add in the eggplants, give another whisk to the sauce, then pour it in. Stir until the eggplants are coated evenly and the sauce thickens (you're looking for a sticky maple syrup-like consistency). Turn off the heat and serve immediately! Serve hot as a side or over rice or noodles as a main.
turned out perfect – added broccoli (stir fried it separately) sauce was a big hit will definitely be making this again!! Only had a regular eggplant that wasn’t quite ripe but it worked very well – Thnk u was very happy how this turned out!!
Hey Tam! I’m so happy to hear that you loved this recipe, thank you for your review! xo
WOW!!!! I had this dish recently at a restaurant so I wanted to find a similar recipe. I was dubious at first because this recipe seemed to simple and I couldn’t believe the crunchiness was merely cornstarch on the eggplant bites. I can’t tell you how impressed I was with this dish; it was exactly like the restaurant I had it at. For myself I would use about 1.5 T. Of brown sugar instead because it was a bit too sweet for me. The other thing I would do differently is I would not mix the eggplant in with the sauce as it took away that wonderful crunch. I would just drizzle it over. I don’t have Instagram otherwise I would post the photos to show you just how delicious it looks. Just like the picture!! Thank you for sharing this amazing recipe.
Wow – thank you for your feedback Randi! I’m so happy to hear that you loved this recipe!!