I love Chinese food but unfortunately the more fast/convenient Chinese food places tend to be high in sodium without fresh vegetables. This recipe is also based off of my mom’s Chinese food recipes. What I love about this dish is that it is hearty, delicious, and affordable! I am all about the sauces and I love this garlic sauce!
Chinese Garlic Eggplant Recipe with Seitan
Quick and delicious garlicky eggplant to fulfill your Chinese food cravings!
Servings: 4 people
Ingredients
- 1 eggplant chopped however you prefer but I like to chop them up in 1/4 inch pieces
- 1 bag of dried shiitake mushrooms
- 1 can of drained baby corn
- 3-4 cloves of garlic
- 1 green onion chopped
- 1.5 tbsp of chopped ginger
- 1 package of seitan
- 1 poblano pepper chopped – I think these are the crunchiest type of pepper
- 2 tbsp of olive oil
- 1/4 c of Tamari or soy sauce
- 1/4 c of Mushroom oyster sauce
- 1 tbsp of rice vinegar
- 1 tbsp of sesame oil
- 1 tbsp of Sambal
- 2 c of veggie stock
- 1/2 c of water
- 2 tbsp of corn starch
Instructions
- Chop up all of your vegetables.
- In a wok or large frying pan, pour the olive oil into the pan on medium heat – add in one piece of eggplant and when it starts sizzling, add in the rest of the eggplant. It should sauté for about 5 minutes, be sure to turn it over halfway through cooking.
- In a separate frying pan while the eggplant is sautéing, sauté the seitan and once it’s brown you can add in a little Tamari or soy sauce.
- Add in the mushrooms and pepper to the frying pan. It should sauté for about 3 minutes till tender.
- Add in the ginger, garlic, and about half of the green onion. After a minute of sautéing, stir in the tamari/soy sauce, the rice vinegar, and the mushroom oyster sauce.
- Everything should be sizzling loudly at this point, keep stirring the veggies, then add in 2 cups of veggie broth.
- On the side, put water in a little mug and stir in the corn starch till it forms a consistent paste – shouldn’t be too thick or too watery.
- Wait till vegetables and veggie broth come to a boil, then put the vegetables to one side of the pan, then stir in the cornstarch mix with a whisk at a lower heat.
- Simmer the sauce for 15 minutes on extremely low heat and cover. Stir occasionally and add in the red pepper paste, if needed.
- Once a nice thick brown sauce has formed, add in the seitan and the leftover green onions.
- Serve with some kimchi fried rice!
Eggplant stir-fry
- 1 bag of dried shiitake mushrooms (you can find these in the international aisle of Jewel or Mariano’s/Asian grocery stores) – soak the mushrooms in warm water for 30 minutes, drain the mushrooms, then chop them
- 1 eggplant chopped however you prefer but I like to chop them up in 1/4 inch pieces
- 1 can of baby corn (optional) drained
- 3-4 cloves of garlic
- 1 green onion chopped
- 1.5 tbsp of chopped ginger
- 1 package of seitan (you can use tofu as well but it will be more laborious)- drain and then fry in a pan with a little olive oil, once it’s brown, add a little Tamari sauce to it (about 1 tbsp)
- 1 poblano pepper chopped – I think these are the crunchiest type of pepper
- 2 tbsp of olive oil
- 1/4 c of Tamari or soy sauce
- 1/4 c of Mushroom oyster sauce (vegan version of oyster sauce)
- 1 tbsp of rice vinegar
- 1 tbsp of sesame oil
- 1 tbsp of red pepper paste (optional if you like spicy food)
- 2 c of veggie stock
- 1/2 c of water
- 2 tbsp of corn starch

- Chop up all of your vegetables.
- In a wok or large frying pan, pour the olive oil into the pan on medium heat – add in one piece of eggplant and when it starts sizzling, add in the rest of the eggplant. It should sauté for about 5 minutes, be sure to turn it over halfway through cooking.
- In a separate frying pan while the eggplant is sautéing, sauté the seitan and once it’s brown you can add in a little Tamari or soy sauce.
- Add in the mushrooms and pepper to the frying pan. It should sauté for about 3 minutes till tender.
- Add in the ginger, garlic, and about half of the green onion. After a minute of sautéing, stir in the tamari/soy sauce, the rice vinegar, and the mushroom oyster sauce.
- Everything should be sizzling loudly at this point, keep stirring the veggies, then add in 2 cups of veggie broth. On the side, put water in a little mug and stir in the corn starch till it forms a consistent paste – shouldn’t be too thick or too watery.
- Wait till vegetables and veggie broth come to a boil, then put the vegetables to one side of the pan, then stir in the cornstarch mix with a whisk at a lower heat.
- Simmer the sauce for 15 minutes on extremely low heat and cover. Stir occasionally and add in the red pepper paste, if needed.
- Once a nice thick brown sauce has formed, add in the seitan and the leftover green onions.
- While the eggplant stir-fry is simmering, start making the rice. Boil 2 c of water with a little salt. Once the water is boiling, add in the Jasmine rice, let it simmer for 20 minutes on low with a lid.
- In a separate frying pan, add in the olive oil – on medium heat.
- Once the oil is warm, add in the ginger, garlic, and kimchi, sauté for 1-2 minutes, then add in the soy sauce, then add in the rice..
- Serve some kimchi rice with the eggplant stir-fry and enjoy!
Kimchi is one of the best things to ever come out of Korea. I eat it with everything.
Yes, I love it!!