Steamed Eggplant with Chili Garlic Dressing

I am a huge fan of eggplant (aubergine). Are you? Today’s recipe, Steamed Eggplant with Chili Garlic Dressing (蒜泥蒸茄子), shows you the simplest way to cook this vegetable. The eggplant is cooked to a perfectly creamy texture in just a few minutes, then topped with a mouthwatering sauce made with fresh aromatics and simple condiments. It’s such a healthy and refreshing dish, especially for summer meals!

Which type of eggplant

I’ve tried two types of eggplant for this recipe and both worked well. One is Chinese eggplants (What I use for Di San Xian Stir-Fry) which are long, thin, and have a vibrant purple color. The other is globe eggplants (aka American eggplants) which are round, elongated, and have a dark purple color.

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Although I prefer Chinese eggplants for their thinner skin and more color-striking appearance, I use globe eggplants more often as they are more accessible (no trips to Chinese grocery stores required) and the taste difference can be negligible.

Tip: What makes the real difference in taste is the quality of the eggplants. Choose the young ones with white flesh and few visible seeds and avoid the overripe ones with off-white flesh and many brown seeds. It is difficult to assess their quality until you cut them open, similar to the challenge of selecting watermelons. As a general guideline, pick eggplants that are heavy, firm, have smooth skin, and fresh-looking stems.

How to cut eggplant

Wash the eggplants then trim off the stems. Do not peel off the skin as it’s a great source of fiber and its purple color makes the dish visually appealing.

When shooting this recipe, I cut the eggplants into roll-cut shapes (left in the image above) known as Gǔn Dāo Kuài/滚刀块 in Chinese cuisine, like how I prepare them for Eggplant with Plum Sauce. Alternatively, cut them into thick sticks (right in the image above), the same shape I used in the recipe for Sichuan Garlic Sauce Eggplant.

Tip: Another popular way to prepare eggplants for steaming is to cut them in halves or quarters. Steam them and then tear them into strips with your hands. The irregular shape creates more surface area for the dressing to adhere to, resulting in a more flavorful dish. If you have more time, give this method a try.

Soak the eggplant or not

When working with eggplants, have you ever experienced these problems: the white flesh turns brown and the purple skin loses its vibrant color? Although these are purely aesthetic issues that do not affect the flavor of a dish, it is still worthwhile to try to avoid them.

Choose one of the two simple ways to avoid the problems:

• The fast-action method: Without delay, put the eggplant pieces into the steamer (in which the water is already boiling), right after cutting.
• The soaking method: If, for any reason, you can’t steam them immediately, soak the cut pieces in 2 cups of water with 2 tablespoons of any light-colored vinegar or lemon/lime juice.

The steaming process

Bring the water in the steamer to a full boil. Put the eggplant on a serving plate then place it into the steamer.

Cover with a lid and leave to steam over high heat for about 6 minutes (reduce to 5 minutes if the eggplants are cut into sticks). Be careful not to overcook as this will make them too soft to handle and the purple color of the skin will fade.

After steaming, you may see some water accumulated on the plate. It’s not necessary to discard it as it’ll help to thin the chili garlic dressing that we’re going to talk about in the next section.

Tip: Steamer set-up options

• A regular steamer (made of bamboo, metal, or plastic) with steamer baskets, and a lid
• A wok/pot, a steamer rack over which you can place a plate, and a lid
• A wok/pot, a small bowl that sits in the middle to pop up a plate, and a lid

The chili garlic dressing

This steamed eggplant dish is seasoned with aromatics such as fresh chili pepper, garlic, scallions, and cilantro, as well as a few essential Chinese condiments like light soy sauce, oyster sauce, black rice vinegar, sesame oil, and a little sugar.

Simply mix all the above ingredients in a small bowl. Then pour it all over the steamed eggplant. Give it a taste and adjust if necessary.

I find this dressing to have a complex, exciting, and balanced flavor. It is also a forgiving sauce, as you are free to alter the quantity of each ingredient to suit your taste. For example, increase or decrease the amount of fresh chili, omit cilantro if you do not like it, use more vinegar for a tangier kick, or add a dash of Chinese chili oil to make it spicier.

Tip: To create a better mouthfeel and an even distribution of flavor, garlic, a key flavor component in the recipe, is best mashed into a soft, sticky paste rather than minced into small pieces as is common in stir-fried dishes like Egg Fried Rice, Garlic Bok Choy, etc. You can do this by either crushing garlic cloves in a mortar and pestle or grating them with a fine grater, such as a Microplane.

Serve it hot or cold

This steamed eggplant dish is delicious hot, cold, or at room temperature. The heat of the vegetable enhances the aroma of the aromatics, while the chilled version is refreshing and the garlicky and tangy flavors are more pronounced.

You can eat this dish over plain steamed rice or toss it with noodles (I particularly like it with cold noodles). When serving it as part of a multi-course meal, pair it with protein-rich dishes like Char Siu Pork, Soy Sauce Chicken, etc., and a healthy soup like Tomato Egg Drop Soup if you have extra time to cook.

Other quick recipes

Looking for more dishes that can be made in under 10 minutes? Here are some great ones to try:

Smashed Cucumber Salad (拍黄瓜)

Silken Tofu with Scallions and Soy Dressing

Soy Sauce Fried Rice (酱油炒饭)

Shrimp and Egg Stir-Fry (滑蛋虾仁)

📋 Recipe

Love this recipe? Please leave a 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟 rating and a comment. Thank you!

4.96 from 23 votes

Steamed Eggplant with Chili Garlic Dressing

By Wei Guo

You only need 8 minutes to cook this steamed eggplant recipe. Creamy, aromatic, and tangy, it tastes wonderful both hot and cold.

Prep: 2 minutes mins

Cook: 6 minutes mins

Total: 8 minutes mins

Servings: 2

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Ingredients 

US CustomaryMetric

• ▢ 10 oz eggplants, see note 1
• ▢ 1 tablespoon garlic paste, see note 2
• ▢ 1 stalk scallions, finely chopped
• ▢ Fresh chili pepper, finely chopped, to taste
• ▢ Cilantro, finely chopped, to taste
• ▢ 1 tablespoon light soy sauce
• ▢ ½ tablespoon oyster sauce, see note 3 for vegan alternatives
• ▢ ½ tablespoon black rice vinegar
• ▢ 2 teaspoon sesame oil
• ▢ ½ teaspoon sugar

Instructions 

• Add water to a wok/pot in which you plan to steam the eggplants. Heat the water over a burner.
• Right before the water begins to boil, start preparing the eggplants. Trim off their stems but keep their skin on. Cut them into chunks (as shown in the recipe images) or thick sticks. Place them onto a serving plate, then immediately put the plate into the steamer (see note 4).
• Cover the steamer with a lid. Leave to cook over high heat for about 6 minutes.
• While waiting, prepare the sauce. In a small bowl, mix the rest of the ingredients, namely garlic, fresh chili, scallions, cilantro, light soy sauce, oyster sauce, black rice vinegar, sugar, and sesame oil.
• When the eggplant is cooked, take out the plate. You may pour the sauce over the eggplant straightaway and serve the dish hot. Alternatively, let the eggplant cool completely (or chill in the fridge) then add the dressing and enjoy it as a salad.

Notes

1. Both Chinese eggplant and globe eggplant work well for this recipe.

2. Fresh garlic paste can be made with mortar and pestle or a very fine grater like Microplane.

3. To make this dish vegan, use vegan oyster sauce/素食蚝油 (known as mushroom vegetarian stir-fry sauce), or omit oyster sauce and increase the quantity of light soy sauce.

4. If, for any reason, you can’t steam the eggplant immediately, soak the cut pieces in water with any light-colored vinegar or lemon/lime juice. Drain well before steaming.

Your Recipe Notes

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Nutrition

Serving: 1serving | Calories: 98kcal | Carbohydrates: 14g | Protein: 3g | Fat: 4g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 11g | Monounsaturated Fat: 2g | Sodium: 646mg | Potassium: 393mg | Fiber: 5g | Sugar: 7g | Vitamin A: 93IU | Vitamin C: 7mg | Calcium: 34mg | Iron: 1mg

Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.

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Note: This is a revised version of my post published in 2017.