Fish-Fragrant Aubergine

Ingredients

• 600g Chinese aubergines
• 1 tsp salt
• 500ml neutral oil, for frying
• 1.5 tbsp pickled chilli paste or Pixian chilli bean paste, chopped
• 1 tbsp finely chopped ginger
• 1.5 tbsp finely chopped garlic
• 100g minced pork (optional)
• 3 spring onions, finely sliced
• 1.5 tbsp sugar
• 1.5 tbsp Chinkiang black vinegar
• 1 tbsp light soy sauce
• 120ml chicken or vegetable stock
• 2 tsp potato starch mixed with 2 tbsp cold water

Before you cook

• Cut the aubergines into batons about 2cm thick and 7cm long
• Toss the batons with the salt and leave them in a colander for fifteen minutes, then pat them thoroughly dry
• Stir together the sugar, vinegar, soy sauce, stock and starch slurry in a small bowl
• Finely chop the ginger, garlic and spring onions and keep them in separate piles

Steps

1. Heat the frying oil in a wok to 180C, hot enough that a piece of aubergine sizzles briskly the moment it goes in.
2. Fry the aubergine in two batches for about three minutes each, until the pieces are golden at the edges and completely soft.
3. Lift the aubergine onto kitchen paper to drain.
4. Pour off all but two tablespoons of the oil and set the wok back over medium heat.
5. If using pork, add it now and stir-fry until dry and lightly browned, about three minutes.
6. Turn the heat low, add the chilli paste, and stir until the oil is red and fragrant, about forty seconds.
7. Add the ginger and garlic and stir for twenty seconds until you can smell them clearly.
8. Stir the sauce mixture to recombine the starch, then pour it into the wok.
9. Let the sauce bubble and thicken for about thirty seconds.
10. Return the aubergine to the wok and fold it gently through the sauce until every piece is glossy.
11. Stir in most of the spring onions, then tip the dish onto a plate and scatter the rest over the top.