[Miss Aubergine]

Eggplant or aubergine (more commonly called in Europe) is now officially my husband's fav vegie. But ... according to answers.com, tho' commonly thought of as a vegie, eggplant/aubergine is actually a fruit (a berry, specifically). Ummm... vegie or fruit, my husband just loooves eggplant dishes these days!!


This is the eggplant/aubergine dish I made that he begins to, helplessly, fall in love with Miss Aubergine (Mmmm... I think Miss Aubergine sounds better and more feminine than Miss Eggplant =)). I made the same dish again 2wks ago ... without any surprises, Miss Aubergine received the same reception from my husband like the first time they met - full attention & attraction, tender, loving, care ... ahhh... my eyes were turning greener and greener that they can spike anything or anyone for that matter with the green ray!!

HOLD ON!!! Something is not right here!! Why the heck am I envy a vegie (or fruit rather) for? I'm not that desperate, am I? Am I?

OK OK OK ... enough with the envious emotion. Here's the recipe to the irresistible Miss Aubergine (at least to my husband it is, hehehe...)

Ingredients:
aubergine/eggplant, in cubes
garlic, finely chopped but not minced
ginger, thinnly sliced
pork slices (season with pepper powder+lite soy sauce+cornflour)

Sauce:
oyster sauce+soy sauce+chilli bean sauce+sugar, mixed well

Methods:
1. Giving oil treatment to the eggplant cubes. Meaning lightly panfried the eggplant. It has a spongelike capacity to soak up the oil, so don't be alarm if the eggplant seems to just soak up the amount of cooking oil you've added. Once it's cooked (became soft and color changed to light brown), it'll "spit" out all the oil.
2. Add garlic and ginger to your pan (no need to add cooking oil as the pan should be well coated from (1)), til slightly browned.
3. Stir in the pork slices, cook for ~1min, then add the cooked eggplant and the sauce into the pan. Keep stirring so all the eggplant and pork slices are well coated with the sauce.
4. Cook for another ~5mins, keep stirring, before dishing up.
5. Garnish with spring onions.

** This dish goes really well with steamed rice. Give it a go!!