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Cooking adventures in a small, closet sized, kitchen. - I came to realize that my meals were boring and that I had been eating the same few dishes over and over again for years. It was time for a change! I now spend my free time searching for, creating and trying tasty new recipes in my closet sized kitchen.

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Mapo Eggplant

[heart_this] · Jan 23, 2012 · 19 Comments

Mapo Eggplant

A tasty mapo tofu style dish with the tofu replaced with tender and creamy eggplant.

One of my favourite Chinese dishes has to be mapo tofu for its use of not only the chili heat and numbing Sichuan peppercorn combo but also for its use of another great Chinese ingredient, fermented black beans. Mapo tofu or mapo doufu is a dish where tofu and ground pork are served in a tasty chili and bean sauce but I was thinking that it would be nice to try replacing the tofu with eggplant and braising it in the sauce until it was nice and tender. This dish includes a few ingredients that may not be in every pantry but it is well worth the effort to track them down. If you cannot find the dried fermented black beans you can replace them and the garlic with black bean and garlic sauce which is more commonly available in the Asian section of grocery stores along with the fermented bean paste. I served the mapo eggplant on noodles, which are said to be lucky on the lunar New Year, garnished with green onions along with shredded cucumber to tame the heat of the dish.
Happy Lunar New Year!

Mapo Eggplant

Mapo Eggplant

Mapo Eggplant

Prep Time: 10 minutes Cook Time: 30 minutes Total Time: 40 minutes Servings: 4

A tasty mapo tofu style dish with the tofu replaced with tender and creamy eggplant.

ingredients
  • 1 tablespoon oil
  • 1/2 pound ground pork
  • 2 tablespoons garlic, chopped
  • 2 tablespoons ginger, grated
  • 1 tablespoon fermented black beans, soaked in water for 20 minutes and chopped
  • 2 pounds eggplant, cut into bit sized pieces
  • 2 tablespoons chili bean paste
  • 2 tablespoons fermented bean paste
  • 1 tablespoon chili sauce, or to taste
  • 2 tablespoons soy sauce
  • 1/2 cup chicken broth
  • 1 tablespoon cornstarch
  • 1 tablespoon water
  • 1 teaspoon sesame oil
  • 1 tablespoon Sichuan peppercorns, toasted and ground
  • 1 bunch green onions, sliced
directions
  1. Heat the oil in a pan over medium heat.
  2. Add the ground pork and saute until cooked, about 5-7 minutes.
  3. Add the garlic, ginger, black beans, and saute until fragrant, about a minute.
  4. Add the eggplant and saute for 5 minutes.
  5. Mix in the chili bean paste, fermented bean paste, chili sauce, soy sauce and chicken broth, bring to a simmer, reduce the heat cover and cook until the eggplant is tender, about 15-20 minutes.
  6. Mix the cornstarch into the water, mix it into the pan and cook until the sauce thickens, about a minute.
  7. Remove from heat, mix in the sesame oil and Sichuan peppercorns and serve garnished with green onions.
Similar Recipes:
Mapo Tofu
Kung Pao Chicken
Dan Dan Mian
Green Beans with Sichuan Pork
Bang Bang Chicken
Mapo Tofu

Chinese, Food, Main Course, Pork, Recipe

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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Maria says

    January 24, 2012 at 12:05 am

    I love eggplant, but have never had this dish. Looks great!

    Reply
  2. Pauline says

    January 24, 2012 at 12:08 am

    Mmm! I love mabo/mapo tofu! I just made mabo tofu yesterday as a New Year's lunch for my friend. That's a great idea to use eggplant; it soaks all the yummy sauce right up. Thanks for the homemade recipe for the sauce too. My family, despite being Asian, uses the MSG-filled boxed mixes for mabo tofu. We will have to try this some day. Happy new year!

    Reply
  3. Drifter says

    January 24, 2012 at 1:11 am

    What a Chinese New Year surprise! Eggplant is one of my favorite veggies and I planned to cook it with a recipe from Food Network but I will try this one instead:)
    Gung Hay Fat Choy!

    Reply
  4. vanillasugarblog says

    January 24, 2012 at 1:11 am

    Another perfect recipe Kevin.
    I did not do any Chinese dishes for the new year. booo
    where i live it's so hard to find ingredients.

    Reply
  5. Lynne @ CookandBeMerry says

    January 24, 2012 at 2:41 am

    I love Chinese pork and eggplant dishes. The ginger, black bean and sesame oil combo is sublime. This is a great recipe. Thanks.

    Reply
  6. Girlie Blogger says

    January 24, 2012 at 5:35 am

    This looks super yummy!
    http://www.thegirlieblog.com

    Reply
  7. Rosa's Yummy Yums says

    January 24, 2012 at 8:18 am

    Oh, what a wonderful dish and combination! Your mapo looks so scrumptious.

    Cheers,

    Rosa

    Reply
  8. Chiara "Kika" Assi says

    January 24, 2012 at 9:30 am

    Mapo tofu is one of my favorite Chinese dishes too! Never had it with eggplant, but it sounds like an awesome idea.

    Reply
  9. Joanne says

    January 24, 2012 at 11:25 am

    I swear you can almost see the flavor emanating out of that sauce! Sounds like a dish I would adore.

    Reply
  10. joquena says

    January 24, 2012 at 7:12 pm

    Does this taste anything like the spicy eggplant from PFChangs? One of my favorite dishes! Would love to try to make at home, especially when I grow eggplant and I don't know what to do with all of them 🙂

    Reply
  11. Jill Mant~a SaucyCook says

    January 25, 2012 at 4:02 am

    This looks and sounds divine…I must try it. Since I'm torn between eggplant and tofu, I'm thinking BOTH!! Happy Year of the Dragon Kevin!

    Reply
  12. Kevin says

    January 25, 2012 at 10:41 am

    joquena: I have not had PFChangs spicy eggplant so I am not sure…

    Reply
  13. meeso says

    January 25, 2012 at 5:29 pm

    I'm such a huge eggplant fan, I'm ready to try any recipe using it. I think you have a good one here!

    Reply
  14. astrabox says

    January 26, 2012 at 6:07 pm

    wonderful ! One of my favourite Chinese dishes

    Reply
  15. Michelle says

    January 28, 2012 at 1:52 am

    This was amazing! Just made it for dinner. I love how diverse your recipes are. Thank you!

    Reply
  16. Melissa says

    June 10, 2012 at 9:37 pm

    I made this for dinner a few weeks ago. It came together so quickly and was so good! I love this dish with tofu, but it doesn't sit well with my fiance, so it's nice to have an alternative.

    Reply
  17. Marlene Bellamy says

    January 25, 2014 at 4:59 am

    I don't cook with pork, Kevin. What do you suggest as the best substitute?

    Reply
  18. kevin says

    January 25, 2014 at 7:42 am

    Marlene Bellamy: Turkey or beef would also be good! Enjoy!

    Reply
  19. SmartCooking says

    November 24, 2016 at 2:11 am

    Kevin:
    I've tried many versions of this and love it.
    One question… what brands do you use/recommend for:
    – fermented black beans?
    – chili bean paste?
    – chili sauce?
    – fermented bean paste?
    I tend to order online but it can be very confusing….
    Thanks very much. I love following you…. wonder how you ever get the time to cook and eat all of what you post!!!
    Anne Marie

    Reply

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Kevin: I came to realize that my meals were boring and that I had been eating the same few dishes over and over again for years. It was time for a change! I now spend my free time searching for, creating and trying tasty new recipes in my closet sized kitchen.
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