8 min read

Have you ever thought to go vegan because you are looking a little bulky and then go back to your old junk-eating habit, which is not normal or healthy for you? Well, I bring to you a nutritious and juicy recipe, and chances are you will love it wholeheartedly.
The Chinese chili eggplant is an authentic Chinese dish, with a hint of tender, juicy eggplant but covered in its crispy skin. then smothered in the spicy sauce, which is also called Szechuan sauce in Asian countries.
This dish is elite, and by this, I mean that it can be served as an appetizer, side dish, or even a main course by pairing it with a batch of freshly cooked rice. The Chinese name for this dish is Yu Xiang Qie Zi, which commonly translates as “fish-flavored eggplant.”
This doesn’t have to do with the seafood fragrance or anything, it is called this way only because this spicy sauce is used in the making of all seafood and fish-related dishes. The mind may assume that it’s not a dish to devour, but believe your gut and dive right into it.
If you read this blog, you’ll be eager to try it, as there are numerous tips and tricks for doing it correctly.
You should always prepare eggplants first for making the Chinese chili eggplant recipe. As it can be bitter and slimy, indicating a bad eggplant, the prior preparation will help you go through this step easily before it ruins the whole pot.
The preparation process includes the soaking and cubing of this vegetable to remove its bitter taste and make it ready for stir-frying in Thai style, leading to crunchy skin and spongy insides.
You don’t have to peel the eggplant to cook the Chinese chili eggplant.
This is mainly because the skin is edible and packed with so much nutrition, which is beneficial for your body. Though the skin of big eggplants can be rough and tough, it is essential for braising and stir-frying.
This will also support the eggplants while stir-frying, so they don’t stick or burn when cooked to perfection. However, while you are not peeling, it is essential to wash the eggplant’s outer skin and then pat it dry, so the results are beyond expectations.
While both of these can be used in cooking, there are still noticeable differences between global and Chinese eggplant that make them distinct from each other in their way.
Here are some of the major dissimilarities:
You get a bitter taste in your eggplant while preparing your vegetables; here’s how to fix it.
First, cube or dice the eggplant, then soak it in milk for 30 minutes total; this not only blows up the bitterness but makes the eggplant creamy since it acts as a sponge when soaked in the milk.
The bitterness also depends upon the type of eggplant you are about to use; if the bitterness is more prevalent in global eggplant, sprinkle some salt on it before soaking; this triggers the plant for osmosis, hence allowing this porous veggie to throw up its bitterness.
If you don’t like the salt method, then the preferred method could be chilling, chill it up in the freezer; when it is thawed back, along with water the bitter taste of it will be leaked up.
It depends on your preference as to whether you like it baked or fried.
However, the eggplant is baked when it is large and intact in shape so that the whole fruit is baked evenly with tenderized insides, without the hassle, fat, or grease, but this will not crisp up the outer skin.
Although you can fear fat content increasing through the frying method, stir-frying is still the most convenient as it doesn’t require deep-frying in tons of oil. This makes the outer skin crunchy while cooking the coating to perfection.
While eggplant is known for causing hives, an itchy throat, tongue, and lips after eating it, and most importantly stomach cramps followed by diarrhea and vomiting, this is not true if cooked properly.
The benefits are countless, the minimal of these include antioxidant properties because of the richness in vitamins C and A, including polyphenols, which help lower the blood sugar of a diabetic patient. Some more benefits are reduced heart risks, promotion of cancer-fighting cells, and help with weight loss.
Yes, if you cannot find authentic Chinese chili oil, you can quickly make it at home from scratch.
All you need is:
Add everything to an oil and then let it come to heat until the oil turns its color from transparent to red translucent.
Nutrition | Per serving |
Calories | 145kcal |
Total fat | 6.4g |
Cholesterol | 0.3mg |
Sodium | 313mg |
Potassium | 324mg |
Total carbohydrates | 23g |
Proteins | 2.6g |
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