This is our bestseller. We have converted many ‘aubergine shy’ people, and in return they come back for more.

This dish is a favourite because it has savoury, spicy, tangy sour and sweet flavours, all exquisitely blended. Some of our customers hail it as the “new substitute”, with a spicy zing to the old sweet and sour.

Serves six

* 500g of flash fry beef or any lean beef thinly sliced in mouthful size ( 3cm x 2cm surface size)
* 1 whole European aubergine (available at any UK supermarkets these days)
* 4 tablespoons of cooking oil
* 1/4 cup of vegetable or fish stock
* 1 1/2 tablespoon of chilli bean paste ( available at any Chinese supermarket, and basically is a paste of preserved chillies with crushed soybeans )
* 2 teaspoons of sugar
* 2 teaspoons of Chinese Chinkiang vinegar or apple cider vinegar
* 1 tablespoon of Chinese Shaoxing wine or sherry
* 1/2 teaspoon of soy sauce
* 1 teaspoon of corn starch
* 5 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
* 1 thumb-size ginger, peeled and finely chopped
* 2 teaspoons of crushed Szechuan peppercorn (optional as this gives a numbing tingling sensation, but inauthentic without)
* 1 small fresh red chilli, diced

Slice the aubergine in half lengthwise and thereafter julienne the aubergine lengthwise in baton-size (5cm length, like julienne carrots ). There is no need to peel the skin.

Mix the vegetable or fish stock, soy sauce and sugar in bowl 1. Mix the chilli bean paste, garlic, ginger, diced chilli and crushed peppercorns in bowl 2.

Mix the corn starch with two teaspoons of water in bowl 3.

Blanch the beef slices in boiling water for 20 seconds, remove, drain and place aside.

Heat a wok or large surface frying pan and add 3 tablespoons of cooking oil.

As soon as the oil is smoking, throw in the aubergine and sauté until the flesh is slightly caramelised, and turn over so that the other surface absorbs the oil.

As soon both sides of the flesh of the aubergine become caramelised, add in the last tablespoon of cooking oil.

Then add in mixture from bowl 2 and allow to cook in medium heat for about half a minute Thereafter, add in mixture from bowl 1 and the blanched beef and turn up to high heat for 1-2 minutes depending on how rare the preference for the beef, adding in the Shaoxing wine.

Then turn down the heat and add in the mixture from bowl 3 and stir in properly for 10-15 seconds.

Once the consistency thickens, add in the Chinkiang vinegar and lightly stir fry (more like folding movement).

Remove and serve.

  • Do you want alerts delivered straight to your phone via our WhatsApp service? Text NEWS or SPORT or NEWS AND SPORT, depending on which services you want, and your full name to 07767 417704. Save our number into your phone’s contacts as Oxford Mail WhatsApp and ensure you have WhatsApp installed.