Making Your Favorite Take-out Food At Home: Eggplant in Hot Garlic Sauce

Making Your Favorite Take-out Food At Home:  Eggplant in Hot Garlic Sauce

This is a Chinese take-out dish that I have loved for years, and I was very surprised to find that it’s a pretty easy meal to make at home.  The secret is in the little jar of Lee Kum Kee Spicy Garlic Sauce. Lee Kum Kee is sort of the Chef Boyardee of Chinese food – in the same way that Patak’s is the Chef Boyardee of Indian food.  In actual fact both brands are far better than the Chef.

Anyway the recipe is pretty easy. 

Ingredients:

8 ounce jar of Kum Kee Spicy Garlic Sauce

½ pound of ground chicken/pork/beef/turkey/soyburger

5 Chinese eggplants (the long purple ones)

1 small onion

1 cup chopped white mushrooms

In a large saucepan fry up half a pound of ground pork/beef/turkey/chicken.  The original recipe calls for pork, but any ground meat will do.  Vegans may want to substitute soyburger. 

Throw in one small chopped onion and a cup of chopped mushrooms

Chop up five Chinese eggplants and put them in a large covered Corningware container.  Nuke for 5 minutes on high or until soft.  Transfer to the large saucepan with the ground meat, mushrooms and onions.

Mix in half the jar (4 ozs) of Lee Kum Kim Spicy Garlic Sauce and let simmer for a couple of minutes.

Then serve with rice.  This is 2-4 servings depending on whether it’s the main course or a side dish.