Sliced Japanese eggplant stir fried with white beech mushrooms, red bell peppers, and fresh basil in a delicious black bean sauce. This eggplant and mushroom stir fry with black bean sauce is an easy to make variation to classic Chinese entrees.
One of my sister’s favorite dishes whenever we order takeout from Chinese restaurants is eggplant stir fry. We love that the eggplant soaks in the flavor, that its texture is different from other vegetables.
Not everyone loves eggplant, and that’s okay. Because this is a stir fry, you can practically add whatever vegetable or meat as a substitute. I suggest broccoli.
I feel eggplant doesn’t get as much attention as other vegetables, but they’re filled with a ton of nutrients and considered healthy. The skin of the eggplant contains an antioxidant that protects our cells from damage. Plus, in general, they’re low in calories and sodium and are great for weight loss. Of course, that depends on how you use eggplants.
In this dish, I combined some of my favorite ingredients: Japanese eggplant, white beech mushrooms, sliced red bell peppers, and fresh basil leaves. Japanese eggplant is the long slender variety, which is the only type we use in my family. White beech mushrooms look like enoki mushrooms, but they don’t shrink or become overcooked as fast. Adding red bell peppers give the dish a sweet taste. And how can you go wrong with the addition of fresh basil?
Add vegetable oil to a skillet over medium to low heat. Once the vegetable oil has warmed up, add the minced garlic. Use a spatula to move the garlic around. If the garlic sits in one place too long, it may cook too fast and become burnt.
When the garlic turns a light golden brown, add the sliced eggplants. Depending on how soft you like your eggplant, the cooking time will be different. I like my eggplants soft. Mix the eggplant with the garlic, and add about a ¼ cup of warm water. The eggplant will soak up all the liquid. You’ll want to add more water later to create the sauce.
Add the sliced red bell peppers. Cook for a few minutes until the red bell peppers become soft. Next, add the white beech mushrooms.
To create the black bean sauce, add the black bean sauce, granulated sugar, hoisin sauce, mirin, and a little bit of salt to the skillet. The store bought black bean sauce is often used as an ingredient to a stir fry rather than used by itself. It’s slightly salty and dry on its own. Then add another ¼ cup of water to make the sauce more liquidy. Mix the ingredients so that the eggplants are well coated with the sauce.
Once the eggplant is as soft to your liking, remove the skillet from the heat and add the fresh basil leaves. Stir to incorporate the basil leaves. I like to add basil leaves at the end to maintain the freshness and not overcook them.
Plate the eggplant stir fry and serve it with rice.
Enjoy!
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- 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
- 3-4 cloves of garlic, minced
- 1large Japanese eggplant, sliced
- ¼ cup water
- ¼ large red bell pepper (about ⅔ cups sliced red bell pepper)
- 2 cups white beech mushrooms (or mushroom of choice)
- 2 tablespoons black bean sauce
- 3 teaspoons hoisin
- 1 teaspoon mirin
- ½ teaspoon granulated sugar
- ⅛ teaspoon salt
- ¼ cup water
- 1 sprig basil, torn
- Add vegetable oil to a medium to large skillet over medium heat. Allow the vegetable oil to heat for a minute before adding the minced garlic. Use a spatula to move the garlic to prevent it from becoming burnt.
- Once the garlic turns a light golden brown, add the sliced Japanese eggplant. Add about a cup water to help cook the eggplant without burning the garlic.
- When the eggplant has softened, add the sliced red bell peppers to the skillet. Cook for a few minutes until the red bell peppers become soft before adding the white beech mushrooms.
- Add black bean sauce, hoisin sauce, mirin, granulated sugar, salt, and water. Mix until the sauce is evenly incorporated with the eggplant, mushrooms, and red bell peppers.
- Lastly, add the basil leaves. Stir to combine the basil leaves.
- Plate the eggplant and mushroom stir fry.
- Serve warm with rice.
I made this one this evening along with the vegetable soup. I make veggie stir fry often and this was the best. Thanks again!
I’m so glad you liked it!
This looks great! I might try it tomorrow night!