Chinese-Style Crispy Eggplant

Cooking method

1. Step 1:

   

   With any Asian dish, it's important to prep everything ahead of time, because the actual cooking goes so fast there's no way to get the ingredients ready mid-stream. So start by prepping all the vegetables. Wash the eggplants and cut them into fairly large pieces. Salt them to draw out the excess moisture.

2. Step 2:

   

   Put the cut eggplants in a deep bowl, add potato starch (5 tablespoons), and toss to coat. This helps the eggplant release less moisture and soak up less oil while frying.

3. Step 3:

   

   Now peel the garlic (3 cloves) and mince it finely with a knife.

4. Step 4:

   

   Seed the bell peppers and cut them into large pieces. It's nice to use two colors, one red and one yellow, so the dish looks even prettier (I used two red ones since that's all the store had). Seed the chili pepper (leave the seeds in if you like more heat) and cut it into small triangles. Peel the onion, cut it in half, and cut each half once lengthwise and once crosswise.

5. Step 5:

   

   Coarsely chop the green onion and set it aside; it's only for garnishing at the end and won't be cooked.

6. Step 6:

   

   Now make the sweet-and-sour sauce. In a small bowl, pour in the soy sauce and dissolve the sugar in it. Then add the rice vinegar, a little vegetable oil, and one clove of garlic pressed through a garlic press. In a separate bowl, stir a tablespoon of starch into water. You'll use this slurry at the end to thicken the dish to your liking.

7. Step 7:

   

   Pour plenty of vegetable oil into a skillet and heat it, then add the eggplant and deep-fry for 5 minutes. Take the pieces out and drain them in a colander to shed the excess oil.

8. Step 8:

   

   Add the minced garlic to the same pan and fry it for 20 seconds. Then add the rest of the vegetables and stir-fry for another 3 to 4 minutes, keeping them crisp.

9. Step 9:

   

   Return the eggplant to the pan with the rest of the ingredients, pour in the sweet-and-sour sauce, add a spoonful of tomato paste, and thicken it all with the starch slurry to your taste. Add a little salt if needed, stir everything together once more, then take the pan off the heat.

10. Step 10:

    

    Arrange the eggplant and vegetables in their sweet-and-sour sauce on a platter and garnish with the chopped green onion and sesame seeds.