Steaming the eggplant is the key. It makes for a very soft texture that’s held up by the shrimp and pork filling. Top it all with a flavorful sauce, and you have a restaurant quality stuffed eggplant dish. The pork in the stuffing is optional. It can be substituted with more shrimp or any other ground meat. You can also leave the stuffing out all together. If you just steam the eggplant slices and use a vegetable stock to make the sauce, you’d have a great vegan meal. The personal adjustments you can make for your own tastes or for any dietary restrictions is always the beauty of a home cooked meal. We’ve had this stuffed eggplant dish many times at weekend dim sum brunches, and I don’t know why I don’t cook it more often at home! Now that we have this proven, authentic Chinese stuffed eggplant recipe, there’s no excuses anymore. Let’s just get started on this dim sum classic.
Chinese Stuffed Eggplant: Recipe Instructions
Start by making the filling for the your dim sum style Chinese stuffed eggplant. Place the shrimp in a food processor along with the ground pork, salt, sugar, white pepper, sesame oil, 1 tablespoon of vegetable oil, and Shaoxing rice wine. Process until a rough paste forms. Transfer to a bowl.
Stir in the egg, cornstarch, and half of the chopped scallions. Set the mixture aside in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.
Cut each Chinese/Japanese purple eggplant into 1 1/2-inches thick slices on the diagonal. Take each slice and carefully slice through the middle, but don’t cut all the way through. The pieces should still be attached on one side. This will help keep both halves of the eggplant together. Fill the middle of each eggplant slice with the shrimp and pork filling.
Once all the slices are stuffed, heat a tablespoon of oil in a skillet over medium-high heat, and fry the slices on both sides until golden. Add a little more oil whenever the pan starts to look a little dry (you’ll only need a tablespoon at a time). You can also brush the oil onto the eggplant pieces.
Remove from the pan and place on a heatproof plate for steaming.
Prepare your steamer with 2-3 cups water (you can also use a wok with a steaming rack placed in the bottom). See our post on how to set up a steamer if you’re not familiar with steaming foods in Chinese cooking. Heat until the water is simmering. Turn off the heat, carefully place the plate in the steamer. Cover the steamer and turn the heat back on to medium-high. Steam for 7-10 minutes. The eggplant should be very soft. Nothing worse than an under-cooked eggplant! While the eggplant is steaming, make the sauce. Heat a saucepan over medium heat, and add 1 teaspoon oil, sesame oil, and minced garlic. Cook for 30 seconds, and then add the chicken stock, oyster sauce, soy sauce, and sugar. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Bring the sauce to a simmer, and stir in half of the cornstarch slurry. Cook for a minute to thicken. Set aside.
After the stuffed eggplant is done steaming, pour any liquid left on the plate into the sauce. Heat the sauce and add more cornstarch slurry if it needs thickening. Stir in your reserved scallions, pour the sauce over the eggplant and garnish with fresh scallions.
Serve your Chinese stuffed eggplant like they do at the dim sum restaurant!
