Eggplant claypot

Method

1. Soak the cut eggplant in salted water ten minutes so it does not blacken, then drain and dry.
2. Heat four tablespoons of oil in the wok on high and fry the eggplant until soft and golden; lift out and drain. Restaurants pass it through deep oil, and this pan-fry is the home version; for less oil, steam it eight minutes or soften it in the microwave instead.
3. Fry the salted fish gently in a tablespoon of oil until fragrant, then the garlic, shallot and ginger.
4. Add the pork mince and fry until it separates and loses its pink; push it to one side, fry the chilli bean sauce in the gap, then combine.
5. Add the light soy, sugar, oyster sauce, vinegar and half a rice bowl of water; bring to the boil, return the eggplant with the capsicum, lid on, low heat five minutes so it soaks up the sauce.
6. Thicken with the slurry, tip into a hot claypot, scatter the spring onion and chilli, add a few drops of vinegar and sesame oil, and serve bubbling.

Take care

• The Hong Kong version contains fish (salted fish); the soy and chilli bean sauce contain soy and wheat; oyster sauce contains mollusc (oyster). Pork must be cooked through. The salted-water soak is for colour, not safety.

The story

A Sichuan dish that Hong Kong rewrote: the fish-fragrant flavour of Chengdu has no fish in it, and Hong Kong cooks, hearing the name, put salted fish in and served it in a claypot. It became a cha chaan teng and restaurant fixture in the 1980s and a home dish on the strength of one eggplant and a handful of mince.

Same technique

Claypot rice with cured meatsClaypot rice with beef and eggClaypot rice with chicken and mushroom

Lo Fo Tong is cultural food-heritage reference, not medical advice. If you are pregnant, unwell or on medication, talk to your doctor or registered practitioner before changing what is in the pot.