Directions

1. Cut the eggplant into 3 inches long strips. Rub the eggplant with 1/2 tsp of salt and set it aside for 15 minutes. There are two purposes behind this step. The sodium will soften the flesh, making it easier to cook so you don’t end up with firm and undercooked eggplant. Second, if you stir fry the eggplant directly without the salt preparation, it will absorb the oil immediately because eggplant is very absorbing. Rubbing the eggplant with salt breaks down the sponge structure, so you don’t need a lot of oil to stir fry, which makes the dish much healthier.

2. Combine the soy sauce, oyster sauce, dark soy sauce, white pepper, tapioca starch, and 1/3 cup of water in a bowl and stir until there are no lumps. Set the sauce aside.
3. Add oil to the wok and saute the yard beans over medium heat for a few minutes or until soft. Remove the yard beans to the side and leave the oil behind. It is best to cook the yard beans before the eggplant. If you do it in the opposite order, the eggplant tends to take most of the oil, and you have to add more when cooking the beans.
4. Squeeze the eggplant to eliminate the excess moisture, then rinse under running water to wash off the salt. Drain the eggplant and squeeze again.
5. Arrange the eggplant strips on the plate and make sure the skin side facing down. This way, when you slide the eggplant into the wok, the skin side will be in contact with the wok bottom. This is the trick to retain the beautiful purple color.
6. Cook the eggplant over medium-high heat for 2 minutes. Turn off the heat and remove it to the side.
7. Add the minced garlic, ginger, diced Thai bird chilies, fermented black beans, and the Sichuan dou ban jiang to the same wok. Stir over low heat until fragrant.
8. Introduce the yard beans and the eggplant back into the wok. Pour in the sauce and stir over low heat for a couple of minutes or until the sauce thickens.
9. Serve with white rice.