Square white plate full of cooked eggplant with garlic, peppers, and scallions, surrounded by long, thin, bright purple eggplants, a small pair of chopstics, and some small Chinese coins

Eggplant with Garlic Recipe

Updated on May 02, 2024
By Chen Xu

Recipe submitted by Xu Chen

Xu Chen is a certified seed technologist who works at Baker Creek's fulfillment center in Seymour. In his spare time, he loves to garden and cook. His favorite vegetables to grow are Chinese String eggplant and the Prairie Fire tomato.  This eggplant recipe is quick and easy, and you can make it as hot (or not!) as you want, depending on the type of peppers you use and the quantity you add.

Xu Chen stands in front of a weathered wooden wall holding ahandful of thin, bright purple eggplants in one hand and a square white plate full of cooked eggplant in the other

Ingredients:

  • 4 long fresh Chinese string eggplants, sliced longways into thin pieces.
  • 3 T. cornstarch
  • 4 T. cooking oil
  • 2 red or green chilies, sliced (hot or sweet)
  • 5 cloves of fresh garlic, chopped
  • 1 t. sea salt
  • 3 T. chopped scallion

Chen stirs the eggplant and other ingredients together in a wok

Instructions:

  1. Place sliced eggplant slices with cornstarch in a large mixing bowl. Mix them until each piece is evenly coated.
  2. Add 3 tablespoons of oil into a wok or a large non-stick pan over medium heat. Add eggplant into the hot oil and fry for 15 minutes at low heat until each piece has wilted and softened. 
  3. Transfer fried eggplant onto a dish.
  4. Using the same wok or pan over medium heat, add remaining 1 tablespoon oil and chopped garlic and sliced chili, and fry for 20 seconds.
  5. Add back in the eggplant and give it a light toss. Add the scallions and 1 teaspoon of sea salt, mixing all ingredients carefully.
  6. Transfer to a serving dish!

The finished eggplant and garlic dish on a white plate, with long, thin, whole bright purple eggplants behind it, on a wooden table.