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Sweet and Salty Eggplant and Pork Stir-fry
Serves 2 · About 20 min
Soft fried eggplant and pork coated in a sweet and salty soy sauce and sugar sauce. Great with rice.
① Cut the eggplant and soak in water→② Coat the pork in starch and mix the sauce→③ Fry the eggplant→④ Stir-fry the pork→⑤ Coat with the sauce
What to buy
Vegetables
Meat
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How to make it
1
Cut the eggplant and soak in water
- Cut off the eggplant stems
- Cut the eggplant on a slant into pieces about 3 cm in size, turning it a little each time (rangiri, roll cut)
- Put them right away into a bowl of water and soak 3 min (this keeps the cut sides from turning brown)
- Drain in a colander and pat dry well with paper towels
How to tell it's doneThe surface of the eggplant is dry.
Be carefulIf they go into the oil still wet, the oil splatters a lot. Pat the surface dry well.
2
Coat the pork in starch and mix the sauce
- Cut only large pieces of pork to about 4 cm, sprinkle with 1 tsp potato starch and rub it in with your hands
- In a small bowl, put 1 1/2 tbsp soy sauce, 1 1/2 tbsp mirin, 1 tbsp sake, 2 tsp sugar and 1/2 tsp ginger, and mix until the sugar dissolves
How to tell it's doneYou can no longer see white starch on the meat. No sugar grains are left at the bottom of the sauce.
Be carefulWash hands that touched raw pork before touching the sauce bowl.
3
Fry the eggplant
- Put 2 tbsp vegetable oil in a frying pan and heat over medium heat
- Lay the eggplant in skin side down and cook about 2 min
- Cook about 3 min more, turning with a spatula
How to tell it's doneThe white parts of the eggplant are light brown and see-through, and press in softly with a spatula.
Be carefulEggplant soaks up lots of oil, but do not add too much. Add 1 tsp at a time only if it is too dry and looks like it will burn.
4
Stir-fry the pork
- Push the eggplant to the side of the frying pan
- Put 1 tsp vegetable oil in the empty space and spread the pork in
- Stir-fry, breaking it apart
How to tell it's doneThe pink color of the meat is gone. Cut the biggest piece: there is no pink inside.
5
Coat with the sauce
- Stir the sauce from step 2 again (sugar tends to settle at the bottom), and pour it in a circle over everything
- Stir in big strokes with the spatula to coat everything in the sauce
- Taste it. If it is too mild, add 1 tsp soy sauce
- Put in a dish, and sprinkle with white toasted sesame seeds if using
ReadyThe sauce is a little thick, and the eggplant and meat look shiny. Almost no sauce is left at the bottom of the pan.
Be carefulThe sauce has sugar and mirin, so it burns easily. Keep stirring once it goes in, and turn off the heat after about 1 min.
📚 Learn more about this dish
🥬 Ingredient guide
🔪 Cutting & cooking tips
If it didn't work out
The eggplant is oily and soggyYou added oil again and again. Next time, cook with only the first 2 tbsp, and brown it over medium heat without a lid.
The eggplant is hardIt did not cook long enough. Keep going 1 min at a time until it presses in softly.
The eggplant turned an ugly brownIt did not go into water right after cutting. Next time, put it in water as soon as you cut it, and start cooking skin side down.
The meat is toughNo potato starch was rubbed in, or it was stir-fried too long. Add the sauce as soon as the pink is gone.
The sauce burned and tastes bitterThe heat was too high, or it stayed on the heat too long after adding the sauce. Next time, finish within 1 min over medium heat.
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