Szechuan Spicy Eggplant and Carrots
This spicy stir-fried vegetable dish is a perfect side for fried rice or as one dish in a dinner with a main course and rice or other grain.
Servings Prep Time
4 10minutes
Cook Time
15minutes
Servings Prep Time
4 10minutes
Cook Time
15minutes
Ingredients
Instructions
  1. Salt the eggplant chunks and leave them in a bowl while you make the sauce and set up a steamer, with about 2 inches of water in the bottom to steam the carrots and eggplant.
  2. To make the sauce, combine the soy sauce, vinegar, rice wine or sherry, sugar and red chile flakes. Stir and set aside.
  3. Once the water in the steamer has boiled, steam the carrot wedges for about 3 minutes, so that you can piece one with a fork, using a bit of effort. They should be between crunchy (too hard) and limp (too soft.) Immediately rinse the carrots off with cold water to prevent them from continuing to cook, drain them and set aside.
  4. Rinse off the eggplant wedges well to remove some of the salt. Steam them for about 4 minutes until you can easily pierce one with a fork. Rinse with cold water them to prevent further cooking and gently dry them with paper towels.
  5. Heat the wok or skillet until a droplet of water bounces when flicked into the bottom of the wok/skillet. Add the oil, then the ginger and garlic and stir-fry them on high heat for 10 seconds, moving them around so they do not burn.
  6. Add the eggplant wedges and gently stir-fry for about 1 minute. Add the sauce and cook for 3 minutes, gently moving the eggplant around as the sauce thickens. Add the carrot wedges and continue stir-frying for 1 more minute.
  7. Remove from the heat and if using, drizzle the vegetables with sesame oil.
  8. When serving, garnish with the diced scallions.