Chinese eggplant in starch

Step-by-step preparation

Cooking time: 40 mins

1. STEP 1

   

   In any Asian dish, it is very important to prepare everything in advance, because then the cooking process itself takes very little time and during this period it is simply impossible to prepare all the ingredients in the proper form in such a short time. Therefore, it is necessary to prepare all the vegetables. First you need to wash the eggplants and cut them into fairly large pieces. Salt them to get rid of excess moisture in them.

2. STEP 2

   

   Then transfer the chopped eggplants into a deep container, add potato starch (5 tablespoons) and roll them in it. This is necessary so that the eggplants release less moisture when frying and absorb less oil.

3. STEP 3

   

   Now you can peel the garlic (3 cloves) and finely chop it using a knife.

4. STEP 4

   

   Peel the bell pepper and cut into large pieces. It is better to use peppers of different colors: one is red, the other is yellow. This way the dish will look even more beautiful (I have two red ones, since there was simply no other one in the store). Peel the chili pepper from the seeds (if you prefer it spicier, you don’t have to remove the seeds) and cut into small triangles. Peel the onion, cut in half, cut each half lengthwise and crosswise once.

5. STEP 5

   

   Also chop the green onions coarsely and set them aside, since they will only be useful when serving the dish itself; they will not be subjected to heat treatment.

6. STEP 6

   

   Now you need to prepare the sweet and sour sauce. To do this, you need to take a small container, pour soy sauce into it, in which you need to dissolve granulated sugar. Then pour in rice vinegar, a little vegetable oil, add garlic (1 clove), crushed through a garlic press. In a separate container, dilute a tablespoon of starch in water. You will need this liquid at the end of cooking the eggplants for controlled thickening.

7. STEP 7

   

   Pour a large amount of vegetable oil into the frying pan, heat it, then place the eggplants in the frying pan and deep-fry them for 5 minutes. Then take them out and place them in a colander to drain off excess oil.

8. STEP 8

   

   Place the previously chopped garlic in the same frying pan and fry it for 20 seconds. Then add the rest of the vegetables to the garlic and fry everything a little more, 3-4 minutes, so that they are still crispy.

9. STEP 9

   

   Next, return the eggplants to the rest of the ingredients, pour in the sweet and sour sauce, add a spoonful of tomato paste and thicken it all with starch liquid to your liking. If necessary, add a little salt to the dish, mix all the ingredients again, then remove the pan from the heat.

10. STEP 10

    

    Place eggplants with vegetables in sweet and sour sauce on a dish, garnish with previously chopped green onions and sesame seeds.

Comments on the recipe

Guest

09.11.2023

4.9

I always make it according to a similar recipe, only instead of bell pepper I use chili. The taste is incredible.