Chinese stuffed eggplant is a popular dim sum dish that also makes a great lunch or dinner meal when served with rice. What I like most about this dish is that it uses less oil than most Chinese eggplant recipes, or for that matter, any eggplant recipe, but is still very satisfying.
Steaming the eggplant is the key. It makes for a very soft texture that’s held up by the shrimp and pork filling. Top it all with a flavorful sauce, and you have a restaurant quality stuffed eggplant dish. The pork in the stuffing is optional. It can be substituted with more shrimp or any other ground meat. You can also leave the stuffing out all together. If you just steam the eggplant slices and use a vegetable stock to make the sauce, you’d have a great vegan meal.
The personal adjustments you can make for your own tastes or for any dietary restrictions is always the beauty of a home cooked meal. We’ve had this stuffed eggplant dish many times at weekend dim sum brunches, and I don’t know why I don’t cook it more often at home! Now that we have this proven, authentic Chinese stuffed eggplant recipe, there’s no excuses anymore.
Let’s just get started on this dim sum classic.
Chinese Stuffed Eggplant: Recipe Instructions
Start by making the filling for the your dim sum style Chinese stuffed eggplant. Place the shrimp in a food processor along with the ground pork, salt, sugar, white pepper, sesame oil, 1 tablespoon of vegetable oil, and Shaoxing rice wine. Process until a rough paste forms. Transfer to a bowl.
Stir in the egg, cornstarch, and half of the chopped scallions. Set the mixture aside in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.
Cut each Chinese/Japanese purple eggplant into 1 1/2-inches thick slices on the diagonal. Take each slice and carefully slice through the middle, but don’t cut all the way through. The pieces should still be attached on one side. This will help keep both halves of the eggplant together.
Fill the middle of each eggplant slice with the shrimp and pork filling.
Once all the slices are stuffed, heat a tablespoon of oil in a skillet over medium-high heat, and fry the slices on both sides until golden. Add a little more oil whenever the pan starts to look a little dry (you’ll only need a tablespoon at a time). You can also brush the oil onto the eggplant pieces.
Remove from the pan and place on a heatproof plate for steaming.
Prepare your steamer with 2-3 cups water (you can also use a wok with a steaming rack placed in the bottom). See our post on how to set up a steamer if you’re not familiar with steaming foods in Chinese cooking.
Heat until the water is simmering. Turn off the heat, carefully place the plate in the steamer. Cover the steamer and turn the heat back on to medium-high. Steam for 7-10 minutes. The eggplant should be very soft. Nothing worse than an under-cooked eggplant!
While the eggplant is steaming, make the sauce. Heat a saucepan over medium heat, and add 1 teaspoon oil, sesame oil, and minced garlic. Cook for 30 seconds, and then add the chicken stock, oyster sauce, soy sauce, and sugar. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Bring the sauce to a simmer, and stir in half of the cornstarch slurry. Cook for a minute to thicken. Set aside.
After the stuffed eggplant is done steaming, pour any liquid left on the plate into the sauce. Heat the sauce and add more cornstarch slurry if it needs thickening. Stir in your reserved scallions, pour the sauce over the eggplant and garnish with fresh scallions.
Serve your Chinese stuffed eggplant like they do at the dim sum restaurant!
Chinese Stuffed Eggplant, Dim Sum Style
Ingredients
For the eggplant:
- 6 oz. shrimp (170g, peeled and deveined)
- 3 oz. ground pork (85g, optional; can also be substituted with ground chicken, beef, or turkey)
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon sugar
- 1/8 teaspoon white pepper
- 1 teaspoon sesame oil
- 1 tablespoon vegetable oil (plus 3 tablespoons, divided)
- 1 teaspoon Shaoxing wine (or dry sherry)
- 1 egg
- 1 teaspoon cornstarch
- 2 scallions (finely chopped, divide half for the filling and half for the sauce/garnish)
- 4 Japanese eggplants
For the sauce:
- 1 teaspoon oil
- 1/2 teaspoon sesame oil
- 1 clove garlic (minced)
- 1 cup chicken stock
- 1 tablespoon oyster sauce
- 1 teaspoon soy sauce
- A pinch of sugar
- 2 tablespoons cornstarch (mixed into a slurry with 2 tablespoons water)
- salt (to taste)
- white pepper (to taste)
Instructions
- Start by making the filling for the eggplant. Place the shrimp in a food processor along with the ground pork, salt, sugar, white pepper, sesame oil, 1 tablespoon vegetable oil, and rice wine. Process until a rough paste forms. Transfer to a bowl, and stir in the egg, cornstarch, and half of the chopped scallions. Set the mixture aside in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.
- Cut each eggplant into 1 1/2-inches thick slices on the diagonal. Take each slice and carefully slice through the middle, but don’t cut all the way through. The pieces should still be attached on one side. This will help keep both halves of the eggplant together.
- Fill the middle of each eggplant slice with the shrimp and pork filling. Once all the slices are stuffed, heat a tablespoon of oil in a skillet over medium-high heat, and fry the slices on both sides until golden. Add a little more oil whenever the pan starts to look a little dry (you’ll only need a tablespoon at a time).
- Remove from the pan and place on a heatproof plate for steaming. Prepare your steamer with 2-3 cups water (you can also use a wok with a steaming rack placed in the bottom). Heat until the water is simmering. Turn off the heat, carefully place the plate in the steamer. Cover the steamer and turn the heat back on to medium-high. Steam for 7-10 minutes. The eggplant should be very soft. Nothing worse than an under-cooked eggplant!
- While the eggplant is steaming, make the sauce. Heat a saucepan over medium heat, and add 1 teaspoon oil, sesame oil, and minced garlic. Cook for 30 seconds, and then add the chicken stock, oyster sauce, soy sauce, and sugar. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Bring the sauce to a simmer, and stir in half of the cornstarch slurry. Cook for a minute to thicken. Set aside.
- After the eggplant is done, pour any liquid left on the plate into the sauce. Heat the sauce and add more cornstarch slurry if it needs thickening. Stir in your reserved scallions, pour over the eggplant, and serve.
OMG – this recipe is a H-O-M-E R-U-N!
this is actually better than the dim sum near my place. I made this and it came out fantastic! You guys are the reason why my family / my in-laws think I can cook. Your step-by-step directions and pictures are fantabulously clear. Thank you for feeding my family a delicious meal!
Hi Anurag, we always like base clearing home runs! To me, sounds like you ARE a good cook!
Are they green shrimp or cooked?
Hi Sandra, the shrimp we start with for the recipe is uncooked.
Hi Bill
Would a rice cooker work for steaming the eggplant? If so how should I proceed with timing? Second, is it better to brush the oil or pour in the pan when searing?
This is my most favorite way to eat eggplant. I can’t wait to try this!
Thanks!
Cristine
Hi Cristine, I have never tried steaming in a rice cooker, but some rice cookers do double as steamers. Brushing the eggplant versus pouring the oil in the pan is definitely a personal preference. Brushing uses less oil and distributes it more uniformly than pouring the oil in the pan since eggplants are sponges when it comes to oil. Happy cooking!
I’m excited to try this recipe, because it’s a favorite at a local restaurant.
Hi Teresa, hope you enjoy both making and eating this classic dim sum dish!
Hello,
I’ve made this recipe as written before and it was great! I would like to make this dish again but just a shrimp stuffing without the pork for some friends. Will the texture be off or will it still be okay? Thanks for any advice!
Hi Christine, Using shrimp only should work fine. See my recipe for stuffed peppers which uses only shrimp for the filling.
Bonjour! Hi, from Montréal, Canada. Always a renewed pleasure to read your recipes and I am overall amazed at your constant creativity and dedication in your blog-passion! I am a serious cook myself and a talented one some might say, and I can always rely on your recipes to concoct my next meal.
This stuffed eggplant is a great dish, easy to prepare and assemble, and totally delicious as part of a multi course meal. Just wanted to tell you my appreciation for all you do so well!
Au revoir,
Michèle
Bonjour Michele and great to hear from you in Montreal! Happy to hear you enjoyed this stuffed eggplant and that you are enjoying our blog and recipes. We do love to cook and to eat :)
I have been surfing the net for recipes for 10+ years and this is the first time I have ever bothered to leave feedback and all I can say is WOW! Thank you for this amazing recipe! This is my favourite dim sum dish and I live in a small town where the nearest dim sum is 1.5hrs away…. I cannot say enough how awesome this recipe is!
The only thing to note with this recipe tho is that if you use your standard soy sauce your sauce is going to turn out a gravy brown… if you want the dark colour you need to use Dark Soy sauce.
Thanks again!
Hi Maria Lee, Glad you like this dish and our recipe! You are right about the sauce – more dark soy if you like it darker. Happy cooking!
Can I use the shrimp head as stock instead of chicken? i feel like its a waste to throw away the shell and head part.
Hi Mae, yes, if you are using whole shrimp, definitely use the shrimp heads and shells to make the stock! We do this for other recipes that call for whole shrimp with heads.
Can you freeze the eggplant and shrimp
The thaw and fry whe you want
Hi Kyle, that will not work. Can’t freeze eggplant.
Excellent recipe, taste as good as what I have eaten in HK.
Hi Barry, agree! Bill really nailed it.