Eggplant Szechuan- style

My recipe for this comes from Rose Cheng's Chinese cookbook, but it is similar to dozens you will find on the internet. I will post it as I actually make it, with the substitutions I use.  Naturally I am not careful about measurements, depending more upon smell and taste.

Supposedly the recipe is for 1 and a quarter pound of raw eggplant, ummm, what ever, but a nice goodly amount.  Most eggplant recipes call for deep fat frying, instead I cut slabs and lay then skin side down in my hot cast iron pan and put a lid on it.  The cut side will brown/ blacken a tad, and it will sweat and soften, no need for oil.  I turn off the flame then and stack the eggplant on a plate (actually the griddle) to cool a tad.  Into the still hot pan I toss a goodly table spoon of chopped ginger and of chopped garlic and pour a couple tablespoons of olive oil on them.  Stir and add 'enough' Siracha sauce or hot chili sauce or hot bean sauce or chopped hot peppers.  When the smells bloom add a splash of rice vinegar and similar amount of soy sauce plus a pinch of sugar.  Those amounts are pretty subjective, my recipe calls for a 2 teaspoons vinegar to 2 tablespoons soy sauce and a teaspoon sugar, I use probably 2-3 tablespoons of vinegar and a teaspoon of soy sauce and a teaspoon of sugar.  Add the now cut up eggplant (I leave skins on, especially with Oriental eggplant) and get it covered with the sauce goo.  Add a tablespoon of sesame oil and a half cup of chicken stock with a teaspoon of cornstarch stirred in. If you want meat in it, now is when to add the already cut up and browned meat. Let this rest a few minutes so the eggplant can absorb flavors, by now the pan is cooling.  After it rests, turn on the flame again and stir while the cornstarch activates and thickens the sauce.  Add some chopped green onion as garnish.  Serve over rice.

Sounds delicious! Thanks for sharing your recipe, I look forward to trying it out once all these flowers on my bushy eggplants transform.

A correction-  I lay the cut eggplant in the hot cast iron pan with cut side down, not skin side down. I want to sear the flesh, not burn the skin.  There is plenty of moisture in eggplant so that heats up and cooks the inner flesh.  The skins start to sweat moisture.

YUMMO!!!!  I am gonna do this!  I have 3 skinny Oriental eggplants to give it a run!

We tried it out last night using zucchini instead of eggplant.  We liked it almost as much. So we figure we can use zucchini to stretch the eggplant, seeing as we have much more of the former.

I just picked a few more eggplants....happening!

If it's spicy, I'm all in! 

Turan wrote:We tried it out last night using zucchini instead of eggplant.  We liked it almost as much. So we figure we can use zucchini to stretch the eggplant, seeing as we have much more of the former.

I thought about that, too, Turan.  I had a squirrel damaged Delicata that I had to get off the plant and might toss in there to plump it up a bit.

I made this! I didn't follow the instructions right - I accidentally added "too much" hot bean sauce instead of "enough", but it was still amazing, even though I needed to chase it with a glass of milk! Second best Eggplant Szechuan I've ever had. The best place changed chefs and the new chef didn't make it like the previous one... but with a little tuning, I think I've got this.