Chinese Eggplant Stir-fry with TVP

Last Updated on October 11, 2023

Chinese Eggplant Stir-Fry with TVP is the best way to cook Chinese eggplants.

This Asian-style eggplant recipe made with TVP is my vegan version of the popular Chinese eggplant stir-fry with garlic sauce.

I’ve received some feedback from readers, they said they would like more vegan eggplant recipes. Here I’m going to share with you my version of Chinese eggplant stir fry.

Chinese Eggplant Stir Fry

It requires some knowledge when it comes to cooking Chinese eggplants. Because they change color quickly and tend to turn soggy easily.

In most Chinese restaurants, they usually prepare Chinese eggplants by deep-frying to retain color and texture.

Although they’re very tasty but often have an oily mouth feel when eating. It’s due to the fact that eggplants soak up oil like sponges.

On the other hand, they also absorb flavorful sauces like sponges.

So here I sauté eggplants with a little bit of oil, just enough oil to seal the surface, and also give the eggplants a lightly charred flavor.

Personally, I like to peel off half an amount of eggplant skin as eggplant skin tends to have a chewy texture.

Eggplant Recipes (Vegan)

For this dish, we use TVP( Textured Vegetable Protein) as the main protein source. The stir-fried sauce is a combination of light, and dark soy sauce, Chinese cooking wine, vegan oyster, and fish sauce.

This combo is a perfect match with eggplant due to its intense savory flavor.

• Chinese Eggplants– China is the world’s top producer and consumer of eggplant. Chinese eggplant is long and slender, ranging in color from light to dark purple. It has a pastel exterior, with a whiter flesh and sweeter taste than other types of eggplant. We are going to peel off half of the skin (like zebra crossing), then cut it into 2x2x0.5-inch sticks.

• TVP (Textured Vegetable Protein)– TVP is a processed vegan meat substitute, a soy-based product. TVP is a complete protein that contains no fat, cholesterol, or saturated fat. It’s also low in calories but very filling.

• Bell Pepper– You can use red, green, or yellow bell pepper.

• Aromatics– Minced garlic, Ginger, Scallion, and Red Chili(optional)

Stir-fry sauce for Vegan Chinese Eggplant

• Light and Dark Soy Sauce– Light soy sauce has a strong aromatic umami and savory flavor. Whereas dark soy sauce has a rich, almost metallic taste, and is only mildly sweet.

• Vegetable Broth– Store-brought low-sodium veg broth or homemade both are ok! Check this one out: How to make Asian-Style Vegetable Stock.

• Vegan Oyster Sauce

• Vegan Fish Sauce- use this instead of salt!

• Chinese Cooking Wine– aka Shaoxing rice wine. It is made from rice. It gives a complex and sweet flavor to the dish.

• Maple syrup– I use maple syrup as a healthier alternative. you can use sugar too.

• Cornstarch slurry– (cornstarch+ water)- to thicken the sauce at the end.

If you want to know my recommendation for brands, you can check this article: The magic ingredients in my vegan cooking.

How to cook Chinese eggplant

If you have prep the ingredients and sauces ready to cook, it only takes 15 minutes away from get this dish onto the dining table.

1. Pour the seasoning ingredients for the stir-fry sauce into one bowl (vegetable broth, light & dark soy sauce, Chinese cooking wine, vegan oyster sauce, maple syrup, and vegan fish sauce) then mix them together thoroughly. Set aside for later use.

2. Wash and dry Chinese eggplants, trim the tops and the ends off. We gonna peel off the half amount of eggplant skin (like zebra crossing), then cut them into 2x2x0.5 inches sticks.

3. Heat up the wok or skillet with 1 tbsp cooking oil on medium-high heat. We gonna saute the eggplants until they are lightly charred on the surface then take them out and set them aside.

4. Wide down the wok or skillet with paper towels to ensure there’s no food residue on the surface. Heat up 1 tablespoon of cooking oil on medium heat, add minced garlic and ginger quickly fry for 10 seconds.

5. Pour the sauce mixture into the wok/skillet.

6. Add eggplants back to the wok/skillet, along with bell pepper and TVP. Make sure everything is immersed in the sauce, and let it simmer away for 10 minutes on low heat.

7. Make cornstarch slurry( cornstarch+water), and push everything aside, we want to slightly thicken the sauce by adding the cornstarch slurry bit by bit until reaches the desired consistency.

8. Ready to serve with rice. Garnish with sliced scallion and red chili.

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