Ground Pork Eggplant – Mapo Tofu (麻婆豆腐) Style

Have you heard of a famous Chinese dish called Mapo Tofu (麻婆豆腐) before? The dish is originally from Sichuan Province (四川省) and is known for tofu with ground meat coated in fermented black bean and spicy sauce that can make your tongue numb. Well, I am going to do ground pork eggplant for this recipe.

I cooked this Ground Pork Eggplant recipe inspired by Mapo Tofu (麻婆豆腐). Instead of using tofu, I used eggplant as a variation. That is what fun about cooking. You can always mix and match, substitute and/or add anything you like into your dish. However, just make sure that whatever changes you do to the recipe, it still ‘retains’ the original taste that the recipe is intended for. Otherwise, it is going to be a completely different meal, if you know what I mean.

Let me know what you think of this recipe. Also, feel free to share any cooking experiment you did, will ‘ya?

Tip: Add the cornstarch mixture, AFTER the taste of the dish is to your liking, because it will be harder to ‘tweak’ once the cornstarch mixture is added

Ingredient:

• 3 piece chinese eggplant
• 1/2 lb ground pork
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 2 tbsp of corn starch (more if you need thicker version) dissolved in 1/4 cup water
• 1 teaspoon minced garlic
• 1 teaspoon chopped shallot
• ½ cup water
• 1 tbsp laoganma spicy blackbean chili
• 1 tbsp oyster sauce
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1/4 cup green onion to garnish
• sugar (optional)

Direction:

• Cut the chinese eggplant into about 2 inch, rectangular shape
• Preheat oil in a pan. Once heated, put garlic and shallot until it is a bit brownish and then, add ground pork.
• When the ground pork is cooked, add the black bean chili, oyster sauce, salt, and pepper.
• Add eggplant and water. Close the pan with a lid to ensure that the eggplant is cooked thoroughly. Cook until the eggplant is a bit tender.
• Mix well and you can try to taste it. If the taste is too spicy, you can add sugar to reduce the heat/spiciness
• Last, add the cornstarch mixture and stir until the sauce is thickened. If it’s not thickened enough, you can add more of the cornstarch mixture.
• Serve with rice and eat it while it’s hot.