Chinese · Sichuan · main

Fish-Fragrant Aubergine (Yu Xiang Qie Zi)

Fish-Fragrant Aubergine (Yu Xiang Qie Zi) reads umami 5.7, salinity 5.5 and richness 4.8 on Palate's 0–10 flavor X-ray — a Chinese · Sichuan main, about 34 min. Measured from the recipe itself: ingredients and technique.

The flavor X-ray — six axes, 0–10

The measured notes (of 18)

Umami 5.7 · Salinity 5.5 · Richness 4.8 · Allium 4.4 · Sweetness 4.3 · Nutty 3.9 · Funk & Ferment 3.4 · Sourness 2.7 · Herbaceous 2.4 · Heat 2.3 · Warm Spice 2.1 · Earthy 1.3 · Floral 1.3 · Bitterness 0.8

What's in it (15)

Time & effort: about 34 min (33 min active) · effort: medium

Nutrition (per 100 g, engine-estimated): 34.5 kcal, 1.4 g protein, 0.7 g fat, 6.7 g carbs

Dietary: Contains meat — engine-derived; double-check anything allergy-critical.

How it's cooked (6 steps)

  1. Toss the aubergine batons with the salt in a colander and leave 20 minutes, then blot them dry. Wet aubergine spits and steams rather than fries, and the salting also stops it drinking a litre of oil.
  2. Heat the oil in a wok to 180 C, hot enough to brown a cube of bread in 40 seconds. Fry the aubergine in two batches for 3 to 4 minutes each, until the flesh has slumped, gone faintly golden at the edges and a baton bends limply when lifted. Drain on kitchen paper and pour off all but 3 tbsp of the oil.
  3. Return the wok to medium heat, add the chilli bean paste and stir gently for 30 to 45 seconds until the oil turns a deep russet red and smells sweet rather than raw. This is the step people rush. If the oil is still orange the finished sauce will taste of raw bean paste, and there is no substitute for Pixian doubanjiang here.
  4. Add the garlic, ginger and pickled chillies and stir-fry 20 to 30 seconds more, until fragrant but not coloured.
  5. Pour in the stock, then add the sugar, vinegar and soy sauce. Bring to a simmer and taste: sweet, sour and salty should sit at roughly equal weight, with the chilli behind them. Slide the aubergine back in and simmer 1 to 2 minutes, spooning sauce over it, until it takes the colour of the sauce.
  6. Stir the slaked starch, dribble it in and stir 20 seconds until the sauce clings in a glossy coat. Off the heat, stir in the sesame oil and spring onions and serve at once with rice.

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Keep reading: what umami, salinity, richness mean in the flavor lexicon · the world's cuisines, by flavor.

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Every number above is Palate's engine-measured estimate, computed from this recipe's ingredients and techniques — not human-tasted ratings or reviews.