Comments on: Eggplant with Garlic Sauce (Yu Xiang Qiezi, 鱼香茄子)

By: Wei Guo

Wei Guo — Sun, 03 May 2026 15:52:39 +0000

In reply to maia. I’m glad you enjoyed it, and yes, it’s a nice alternative when you want to keep things lighter.

By: maia

maia — Thu, 16 Apr 2026 10:40:17 +0000

Delicious! And easy. Of course, the eggplant would be even tastier if it were fried, but this is a very good second-best if one wants to avoid frying!

By: Wei Guo

Wei Guo — Tue, 16 Sep 2025 08:24:21 +0000

In reply to Sophia. That’s wonderful to hear, Sophia! So happy you enjoyed it and want to make it again.

By: Sophia

Sophia — Sat, 06 Sep 2025 23:05:41 +0000

First time cooking Chinese food at home. I love eggplants so much I couldn’t help thinking it would be nice to eat this at home!
I got a bit too excited and had more than 1.5 kg of eggplants (lol). I didn’t follow the exact recipe because I think it would have been too spicy but oh boy! This was A-MA-ZING!!!!!!!! Will definitely do again and again!

By: Gisele

Gisele — Tue, 10 Sep 2024 22:25:07 +0000

Fabulous

By: A

Thu, 30 Nov 2023 00:03:51 +0000

I enjoyed sourcing ingredients and making this. I did make substitutions (just for convenience and to use what I had):
1) ~1tbsp of chili oil and 2 red thai chilies for the pickled chilies;
2) chopped, unsalted, roasted peanuts for the mince;
3) indian eggplants for chinese eggplants;
4) honey for sugar.
On the whole, I thought it was nice, but a tad too vinegary—I suspect the meat would offset that, so I might try this again with meat—although the peanuts offered great texture, so I might do both! Interestingly, I also found I needed a dash of salt and, once I did that, it actually offset the vinegar a bit. I’m also going to get the chinese eggplants next time, though the baby ones were not bad.

By: Wei Guo

Wei Guo — Sun, 15 Jan 2023 11:13:56 +0000

In reply to Lauren. Very happy to hear your feedback Lauren. Yes the contrast in textures is indeed a highlight.

By: Lauren

Lauren — Thu, 12 Jan 2023 01:36:18 +0000

One of the most delicious dishes I’ve had in a while…that said, we eat a lot of spicy food, but my mouth is on fire and I’m going to halve the chili garlic sauce next time as I find the other flavors slightly overpowered. Love the contrast in textures of the soft eggplant and the crispy ground pork.

By: Wei Guo

Wei Guo — Wed, 03 Aug 2022 14:12:52 +0000

In reply to Kiki. Nice to hear your vegan twist!

By: Kiki

Kiki — Wed, 03 Aug 2022 14:07:40 +0000

I really like this recipe, it is my second favorite eggplant dish. Now I thought I’d share my vegan replacement, I like to cook this with chopped cashews – I like them crunshy so I stir fry them along with the garlic but you can also boil them before adding to soften them.

Btw. I also had the cornstarch problem that some have mentioned before. I do use twice the amount of water but that is ok, I like more sauce anyway.