Chinese style aubergine recipe - sweet, spicy and delicious!

I was taught how to cook this aubergine (egg plant) dish by a cook in Guilin, China and the intense sweet and spicy Chinese flavour can be recreated by ingredients available in England.

Ingredients:

2 medium/large aubergines
2 green finger chillies
2 cloves of garlic
50g muscavado soft brown sugar (Chinese rock sugar would be better if available)
2 tbsp shaoxing rice wine
2 tbsp rice vinegar
Handful of chopped spring onion and coriander
Salt to taste
Vegetable oil for cooking

Method

Aubergines can have a rather bitter taste, but this can be reduced by sprinkling the freshly chopped chunks with salt and leaving them to sit for about 25 minutes. Then rinse with water and dry with a paper towel.

1. Heat some vegetable oil in a wok and then add the chopped aubergine pieces and fry until the pieces become soft or limp. Remove from the pan.
2. Now fry the slices garlic and chillies for five minutes - stirring frequently.
3. Reduce the heat and add the rice wine, rice vinegar and sugar. Stir the ingredients together for a minute or two.
4. Return the aubergine pieces to the pan and cook for a further five minutes. Add salt if required.
5. Turn off the heat and sprinkle over the chopped coriander and spring onions.

I prefer to leave this dish to sit for a while and then reheat it to serve. The aubergine really soaks up the flavour this way.

Serve with rice and pork.