Healthy Spicy Eggplant
It’s really annoying, because my cravings for food are not just triggered by smells or by sight. They are also triggered by SOUND! The pfffssttt of a can of diet coke opening makes me run for the vending machine. The crackle of a chip packet… and today – my friend talking about eggplant made me change my dinner plans from fajitas to eggplant. Here’s the way I make a healthy version of spicy sichuan eggplant. It’s usually sitting in a pool of tasty yummy oil from the eggplant being deepfried. But instead, what I do is steam the eggplant! A medium sized eggplant – chopped. While you steam it (it takes 15minutes-ish), you can prepare the aromatics: 2 cloves of finely chopped garlic, a knob of ginger, a sprig of spring onion sliced and a handful of chopped coriander.
You can use pork mince or chicken mince. Heat a couple of tablespoons of oil in a hot wok. I say a couple of tablespoons because you do want to make it a bit more yummy since you saved on the deep frying 
, then saute the ginger and garlic. Add the mince and cook the mince. When the mince is almost cooked, add the spring onions and stir fry until cooked. Add the now ready eggplant plus 1 tablespoon EACH of spicy bean paste sauce, hoisin sauce, soy sauce. In a small bowl, mix a teaspoon of cornflour in some chicken stock and pour into the wok and simmer until thickened. Now you can put a dash of sesame oil and then stir in the coriander at the last minute. Serve with steamed rice. YUM!