Yu Xiang Eggplant (Fish-Fragrant — There Is No Fish)

The story

Yu xiang means "fish-fragrant" — the Sichuan sauce traditionally built for cooking fish, applied to eggplant by some genius generations ago. Soft strips of eggplant in a sweet-sour-garlicky scarlet sauce. The steamer version below sidesteps the oil-sponge problem entirely.

Ingredients (6 + pantry staples)

• Eggplants (Chinese or globe) — 1.5 lb / 700 g, in strips
• Garlic — 4 cloves, minced
• Ginger — 1 tbsp, minced
• Soy sauce — 2 tbsp
• Black vinegar — 1.5 tbsp
• Chili bean paste (doubanjiang) — 1 tbsp

Pantry staples used (don't count toward the 6): sugar (2 tbsp), cornstarch (1 tsp), cooking oil, scallions to finish. Not stocked yet? See the pantry page.

Steps

1. Steam the eggplant strips 10 minutes until limp and translucent. (This is the lazy genius move — no oil-sponge frying.)
2. Mix the sauce: soy, vinegar, sugar, doubanjiang, cornstarch and 1/2 cup water.
3. Fry garlic and ginger in 1.5 tbsp oil for 30 seconds; add the sauce and simmer until glossy and thickened.
4. Eggplant back in, gentle toss, scallions on top. Warm rice, non-negotiable.

Swaps

Same sauce on zucchini, mushrooms or soft tofu = three more dinners. Ground pork fried with the garlic makes it the restaurant version.