Chinese Eggplant Tofu Recipe: Meaty and Juicy Goodness!
Eggplant is a versatile vegetable that can be used in a variety of dishes and cuisines. Another versatile ingredient in this dish is the tofu, which absorbs a lot of flavor, especially in a recipe like this. You might already understand I am going to show you the Chinese Eggplant Tofu recipe today.
Even though this can be classified as a braised dish, you won’t need a lot of time to make it. But following the right steps and in the correct order is crucial to get a restaurant-like taste in the dish. Let’s make one of the tastiest eggplant and tofu dishes.
Table of Contents
Chinese Eggplant Tofu Recipe Overview
The recipe involves some cutting and prepping but it should be done in about ten minutes. Here is a quick overview of the required time, servings, and calorie count of this recipe.
| Cuisine: Chinese | Difficulty: Medium | ||
| Total Time: 30 minutes | |||
| Serving | Preparation Time | Cooking Time | Calories |
| 2 persons | 10 minutes | 20 minutes | 228 kcal |
Ingredients Needed for Chinese Eggplant Tofu Recipe
This dish requires the most common seasonings used in Chinese cuisine, so each of them should be readily available in your kitchen. I recommend buying fresh eggplant as it will enhance the flavor of the dish. Check if you have everything on the following list.
Main Ingredients for the Recipe
- Eggplant: The eggplants should be fresh and have a bright, smooth skin. I used three long eggplants or about 300g of eggplants for the dish. Asian eggplants are okay to use, but Chinese eggplants have a better taste.
- Tofu: Use 1 block of firm tofu of about 300g. You can also use soft tofu, but handling the firm tofu is easier.
- Pork: 200g of pork meat. The pork meat should have at least 20% of fat to intensify the flavor.
- Ginger: About 50g of ginger, thinly sliced
- Garlic: 2-3 cloves, roughly crushed
- Scallion: 2 sprigs, finely chopped
Sauces and Seasonings for the Recipe
- Salt: 1 tsp
- Sugar: 1/2 (half) tsp
- Canola Oil: 1 tbsp. Using a neutral oil like this one is better for this recipe.
- Broad Bean Sauce: 1 tbsp. It will give a bit of saltiness and hot kick
- Light Soy Sauce: 1/2 (half) tsp
- Dark Soy Sauce: 1/2 (half) tsp
- Oyster Sauce: 1/2 (half) tsp
- Chicken Powder: 1 tsp
- Black Pepper: 1/2 (half) tsp, freshly ground
Chinese Eggplant and Tofu Recipe: Step-By-Step Instructions
This dish is made in a few stages and maintaining the right order of the steps will help you achieve a better taste. The cooking time will also be reduced if you follow the process. Let me show you in detail.
Step 1: Prepare the Eggplant for Steaming
Wash the whole eggplants thoroughly. Cut them into large chunks of about two inches. You can keep the bottom part of the stalk as this is edible. Once the eggplants are cut into chunks, you need to make slits on one side of the chunks.
Make two slits on one side of each chunk in a criss-cross pattern. These slits should be about halfway deep.
Step 2: Steam the Eggplants
Put a steaming pot with water on the stove. Place the bowl of eggplant onto the steamer and close the lid. Let the eggplants steam for about 8 minutes.
Steaming the eggplant will release more fragrance and the eggplant will be almost cooked in this step. While the eggplants are steaming, let’s prepare the tofu.
Step 3: Cut the Tofu Into Cubes
Take the block of tofu and lay it on a flat surface or cutting board. Use a kitchen knife or cleaver to cut the tofu into slices. Then, cut those slices again to turn the tofu block into smaller cubes. Each tofu cube should be about 1 inch.
Step 4: Cut the Ginger, Garlic, and Scallion
Peel the ginger and slice it thinly. Put the peeled garlic on the cutting board and crush it with the flat side of the cleaver. You can chop up the garlic a bit but I am keeping them a bit rough. Then, chop the scallions nicely.
Step 5: Mince the Pork Meat
Take the pork meat and cut it into thin strips. Then, start chopping the slices until the pork meat is roughly minced. If you have a meat grinder handy, you can use that as well.
Step 6: Check the Eggplant and Take It Out
See the benefit of organizing the steps? The eggplant has been cooked while you were prepping other ingredients. This reduces the overall cooking time. However, poke the eggplants with a chopstick to see if they are soft enough. If they are soft, take them out and let them rest for a bit.
Step 7: Blanch the Tofu
Put water in a wok and bring the water to a rolling boil. Sprinkle a generous amount of salt in the water. Add the tofu cubes to the water and blanch the tofu for about 2 minutes.
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Blanching removes the raw bean smell from the tofu and prepares it for flavor absorption in later steps. After two minutes, take the tofu out of the wok and submerge in cold water to stop the cooking process. Then, pat the tofu dry with a kitchen tissue.
Step 8: Tear the Steamed Eggplants
The slits you made on the eggplant will be useful now. Tear the eggplants into thinner strips once they cool down a bit. Opening up the eggplants will help them absorb more flavor.
Step 9: Sweat the Pork Meat
Place a wok on the stove and turn the heat to medium. Add about 1 tbsp of canola oil to the wok and let it heat up. Once the oil is hot, put the minced pork into the wok and start stirring.
Render the pork fat to increase flavor. Frying the meat for about two minutes will turn its color to white. This is the time to add the aromatics.
Step 10: Fry the Aromatics
Put the sliced ginger, crushed garlic, and chopped scallions into the wok. Mix everything and continue stir-frying to release the aroma. After about two minutes, add the broad bean sauce and mix it well.
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Saute the bean sauce properly to get rid of the raw bean smell. Once the bean paste is cooked, add about one cup of boiling water to the wok.
Step 11: Add the Tofu and Season the Dish
Put the blanched tofu into the wok and mix everything well. Now, you can start putting all the seasonings and sauces. First, put 1/2 tsp of dark soy sauce and 1/2 tsp of light soy sauce. Add 1/2 tsp of sugar and 1/2 tsp of oyster sauce.
You should put the salt at the end and be careful about the amount because the soy sauce and the broad bean sauce already contain salt. Turn the heat to high and cook for a few minutes. Then, turn the heat to low and cook for 5 more minutes.
Step 12: Add the Eggplant
This is the last step of the cooking. As the eggplants are already steamed, you should add them after everything is cooked. After adding the eggplant, turn the heat to high again and cook for about two minutes.
Finally, add the chicken powder and freshly ground black pepper. Flip everything to combine the seasonings and take the dish off the heat after about one minute.
Step 13: Garnish and Serve!
Plate the Chinese eggplant tofu and garnish it with chopped scallions. Serve the dish hot with any rice dishes or your preferred main dish.
Chinese Eggplant Tofu Recipe
Ingredients
Method
- Wash the whole eggplants thoroughly. Cut them into large chunks of about two inches. You can keep the bottom part of the stalk as this is edible. Once the eggplants are cut into chunks, you need to make slits on one side of the chunks.
- Make two slits on one side of each chunk in a criss-cross pattern. These slits should be about halfway deep.
- Put a steaming pot with water on the stove. Place the bowl of eggplant onto the steamer and close the lid. Let the eggplants steam for about 8 minutes.
- Steaming the eggplant will release more fragrance and the eggplant will be almost cooked in this step. While the eggplants are steaming, let’s prepare the tofu.
- Take the block of tofu and lay it on a flat surface or cutting board. Use a kitchen knife or cleaver to cut the tofu into slices. Then, cut those slices again to turn the tofu block into smaller cubes. Each tofu cube should be about 1 inch.
- Step 4: Cut the Ginger, Garlic, and Scallion
- Peel the ginger and slice it thinly. Put the peeled garlic on the cutting board and crush it with the flat side of the cleaver. You can chop up the garlic a bit but I am keeping them a bit rough. Then, chop the scallions nicely.
- Take the pork meat and cut it into thin strips. Then, start chopping the slices until the pork meat is roughly minced. If you have a meat grinder handy, you can use that as well.
- See the benefit of organizing the steps? The eggplant has been cooked while you were prepping other ingredients. This reduces the overall cooking time. However, poke the eggplants with a chopstick to see if they are soft enough. If they are soft, take them out and let them rest for a bit.
- Put water in a wok and bring the water to a rolling boil. Sprinkle a generous amount of salt in the water. Add the tofu cubes to the water and blanch the tofu for about 2 minutes.
- Blanching removes the raw bean smell from the tofu and prepares it for flavor absorption in later steps. After two minutes, take the tofu out of the wok and submerge in cold water to stop the cooking process. Then, pat the tofu dry with a kitchen tissue.
- The slits you made on the eggplant will be useful now. Tear the eggplants into thinner strips once they cool down a bit. Opening up the eggplants will help them absorb more flavor.
- Place a wok on the stove and turn the heat to medium. Add about 1 tbsp of canola oil to the wok and let it heat up. Once the oil is hot, put the minced pork into the wok and start stirring.
- Render the pork fat to increase flavor. Frying the meat for about two minutes will turn its color to white. This is the time to add the aromatics.
- Put the sliced ginger, crushed garlic, and chopped scallions into the wok. Mix everything and continue stir-frying to release the aroma. After about two minutes, add the broad bean sauce and mix it well.
- Saute the bean sauce properly to get rid of the raw bean smell. Once the bean paste is cooked, add about one cup of boiling water to the wok.
- Put the blanched tofu into the wok and mix everything well. Now, you can start putting all the seasonings and sauces. First, put 1/2 tsp of dark soy sauce and 1/2 tsp of light soy sauce. Add 1/2 tsp of sugar and 1/2 tsp of oyster sauce.
- You should put the salt at the end and be careful about the amount because the soy sauce and the broad bean sauce already contain salt. Turn the heat to high and cook for a few minutes. Then, turn the heat to low and cook for 5 more minutes.
- This is the last step of the cooking. As the eggplants are already steamed, you should add them after everything is cooked. After adding the eggplant, turn the heat to high again and cook for about two minutes.
- Finally, add the chicken powder and freshly ground black pepper. Flip everything to combine the seasonings and take the dish off the heat after about one minute.
- Plate the Chinese eggplant tofu and garnish it with chopped scallions. Serve the dish hot with any rice dishes or your preferred main dish.
Nutrition Facts of Chinese Eggplant Recipe
As you might have already noticed, this dish uses a tiny amount of oil. Both the eggplant and tofu used here are rich in nutrients. The following list of nutrients in this dish will give you a better idea.
- Total Carbohydrates: 27g
- Protein: 6g
- Total Fat: 9g
- Saturated Fat: 1g
- Polyunsaturated Fat: 6g
- Monounsaturated Fat: 2g
- Total Dietary Fiber: 9g
- Total Sugar: 8g
- Cholesterol: 0.1mg
- Sodium: 855mg
- Potassium: 773mg
- Calcium: 41mg
- Iron: 1mg
- Vitamin A: 56IU
- Vitamin C: 8mg
FAQs
These are the most commonly asked questions about the Chinese eggplant and tofu recipe. Don’t miss out on the answers.
Is it necessary to blanch tofu before cooking this dish?
Yes. Blanching the tofu is a necessary step for the dish. The texture of the tofu improves when you blanch it. So, it can absorb more flavor from the meat, fat, and seasonings.
Is Chinese eggplant and regular eggplant the same?
Not at all. While regular eggplant has a slightly bitter taste, the Chinese eggplant lacks the bitterness. Instead, it has a slightly sweet flavor profile. Plus, the Chinese eggplant is more tender.
Do I need to peel the Chinese eggplant skin?
No. The Chinese eggplant skin is also tender and you can eat it. In fact, the skin contains a lot of nutrients. So, you shouldn’t peel the eggplant skin.
Can I eat Chinese eggplant tofu regularly?
Even though this dish is delicious and nutritious, you shouldn’t eat it every day. It has a high sodium content and can be harmful to your heart. So, eat it in moderation and add more variety to your diet.
Conclusion
Making this dish seems like going through a lot of steps. But I promise you the outcome is worth the time and effort. The meatiness from the pork, the juiciness from the eggplants, and the firmness from the tofu – these combine into a flavor bomb and explode inside your mouth.
This salty and savory dish is well-suited for any occasion or even your regular dinner. My detailed recipe will help you organize the steps to complete the cooking in the shortest possible time. Make it to give yourself a treat you deserve for so long.
