Di San Xian (地三鲜) is a well-known Shandong dish consisting of stir-fried eggplant, potatoes, and peppers. The dish’s poetic name is roughly translated to “three earthly bounties.”
Many of you are not new to Shandong’s lu (鲁) cuisine. If you have tried my Braised Glass Noodle with Pork and Napa Cabbage, for example, you have already had it! During college, Sarah spent a summer in Qingdao, a major city in Eastern Shandong province, for a Chinese language program at Qingdao University.
Some of her fondest memories from that summer involved food (I’m sure that surprises no one). She couldn’t believe how cheap and good everything was! She told me that every time a bunch of students from the program would go out to eat, they would always order Di San Xian along with rice and a perhaps a simple egg and tomato stir-fry.
The traditional way of cooking this dish is to fry all three vegetables and then toss them together in a sauce at the end. The official name for this technique is called “走油, zou-you” which translates to “walk the oil.” Instead of deep-frying, I browned the vegetables using a shallow-fry technique. I also decided to brown the eggplant last, because eggplant tends to sponge up way too much oil if you let it.
For some of you who are familiar with this dish, the traditional colors are purple (eggplant), yellow (potato), and green (green bell pepper), but I decided to use red and yellow bell peppers to jazz up the colors even more. (Okay, the truth is that I didn’t have green bell peppers on hand). If you grew up eating this dish, don’t let the colors throw you off!
This dish is vegan, and with the vegetables in your gardens reaching maturity, I think this recipe is quite timely. Odds are, it has your name all over it! Just remember that the cooking times for these three vegetable are different: the potato takes the longest, and the pepper the shortest amount of time. Follow the cooking steps as written, and I promise, it will become your new favorite!
Recipe Instructions
First let’s prepare the following: smash and peel the garlic, chop the scallions, and mix the cornstarch with the water in a small bowl. Set everything aside.
Then wash and wipe all the vegetables dry using a clean kitchen towel (this is key!) before cutting them into large bite-sized pieces. Don’t let the cut potato and eggplants sit for too long before cooking, because they will oxidize and become discolored.
Now we’re ready to cook this Di San Xian stir fry. Heat the oil in your wok over medium heat. Add the potato, and brown lightly for about 8 minutes until cooked through. Stir occasionally to avoid burning them.
Now add the bell peppers, and stir-fry for another minute. Transfer everything to a dish and set aside.
There should be oil left in the wok. Add the eggplant and brown slightly. I learned this technique from Bill: spread the eggplant pieces into a single layer, cover the lid for a minute, uncover, stir the eggplant to avoid burning, then repeat. Do this 2-3 times until the eggplant is cooked through. Transfer to a dish.
Add a bit of oil if the wok is very dry at this point. In my case, the wok was still well-oiled, so I didn’t need additional oil. Add the garlic, cook it for a few seconds, and add all the vegetables back to the wok.
Now quickly add the Shaoxing wine, light soy sauce, sugar, white pepper, and sesame oil. Stir and mix everything well.
Time to turn up the heat and add the cornstarch slurry (stir well before adding, as the cornstarch settles to the bottom) and the scallions.
Stir a couple of times to coat the vegetables with sauce, add salt to taste, and you’re ready to serve!
Serve your Di San Xian as a vegetable side dish or as a vegetarian main course with lots of rice!
Stir-fried Eggplant, Potatoes & Peppers (Di San Xian)
Ingredients
- 3 cloves garlic (smashed and peeled)
- 2 scallions (chopped)
- 1½ tablespoons cornstarch
- 3 tablespoons water
- 2 long Chinese eggplants (cut on an angle into large bite-sized pieces)
- 1 large potato (about 8 ounces/225g, peeled and cut on an angle into large bite-sized pieces)
- ½ red bell pepper (cut into large bite-sized pieces)
- ½ orange bell pepper (cut into large bite-sized pieces)
- 4 tablespoons oil
- 1 tablespoon Shaoxing wine
- 2 tablespoons light soy sauce
- ½ teaspoon sugar
- ¼ teaspoon white pepper
- ½ teaspoon sesame oil
- Salt to taste
Instructions
- First let’s prepare the following: smash and peel the garlic, chop the scallions, and mix the cornstarch with the water in a small bowl. Set everything aside.
- Then wash and wipe all the vegetables dry using a clean kitchen towel (this is key!) before cutting them into large bite-sized pieces. Don’t let the cut potato and eggplant sit for too long before cooking, because they will oxidize and become discolored.
- Now we’re ready to cook. Heat the oil in your wok over medium heat. Add the potato, and brown lightly for about 8 minutes until cooked through. Stir occasionally to avoid burning them. Now add the bell peppers, and stir-fry for another minute. Transfer everything to a dish and set aside.
- There should be oil left in the wok. Add the eggplant and brown slightly. I learned this technique from Bill: spread the eggplant pieces into a single layer, cover the lid for a minute, uncover, stir the eggplant to avoid burning, then repeat. Do this 2-3 times until the eggplant is cooked through. Transfer to a dish.
- Add a bit of oil if the wok is very dry at this point. In my case, the wok was still well-oiled, so I didn’t need additional oil. Add the garlic, cook it for a few seconds, and add all the vegetables back to the wok. Now quickly add the Shaoxing wine, light soy sauce, sugar, white pepper, and sesame oil. Stir and mix everything well. Time to turn up the heat and add the cornstarch slurry (stir well before adding, as the cornstarch settles to the bottom) and the scallions. Stir a couple of times to coat the vegetables with sauce, add salt to taste, and you’re ready to serve!
I’m currently under lockdown in Shanghai. I miraculously have all the ingredients and made this amazing 地三鲜 recipe. It lifted my spirits a bit, since I can’t order 外卖.
Sorry to hear that you are in lockdown again :-( Glad that we can help to lift your spirits, even just a bit :-)
We had this tonight after trying it at a restaurant and it was amazing! My husband said it was addicting and my 6 year old gave it his approval, too. I typically miss meat in vegetarian Chinese dishes, but not here!
How wonderful, Anna.
The most widely known city in Shandong is Qingdao, but it is not the capital. Jinan is the capital city of Shandong province. 😊 great recipe 👍
Thank you for your feedback, JP, we will make a correction.
I love this recipe! One of the first i ever tried on your website :) it’s so satisfying and comforting, the flavors are perfect.
Thank you, Michelle! Happy wokking.
So glad I read the suggestion about how to cook the eggplant, one layer at a time. Love this website. It has become my go to source for finding my favorite dishes. Two nights ago made the di san xian and egg and tomato to go with our early new year celebration. Last night made the braised baby bok choi. Tonight will be the salt and pepper squid.
Thank you for making it our celebration taste like the years we lived in China. My kids don’t remember much since they were little when we moved back to the US, the taste of their favorites is one of the few things.
That’s so nice, Jen, happy wokking!
This recipe surprised me! I was not expecting it to be as nice as it was maybe because of the compilation of sole vegetables. I love veg but was skeptical about this over rice. Needless to say I was pleasantly surprised and thoroughly enjoyed my dinner! The sauce is amazing and tastes like true Asian cooking. Unfortunately I didn’t have Chinese aubergines but I used regular ones and it worked out great (I need to find where I can source Chinese ones though!). The only thing I would change for next time would be to decrease the cornflour slurry by half. I felt it made the sauce go a bit too gloopy and less would have been the consistency I would have most enjoyed.
Hi Debbie, glad you enjoyed it and noted your suggestion. Do remember to stir the cornstarch slurry well before adding it gradually to the wok to avoid the “gloopy” consistency. You may not need all of it, so you can add it until it looks thick enough.
Hey ms. Judy, I love ALL of the recipes I’ve tried thus far including this but also wonder if you might check the cornstarch amount? I’m familiar with the technique and was surprised that mine also hit the pan and immediately lumped and gelled and stole all
The sauce possibilities. I tried adding more water “after the fact” but just wished I’d used a LOT less cornstarch…everything else about this recipe is just right. Thoughts?
Hi Jenny, I think the problem is that there was too little liquid before adding the cornstarch slurry.
This is delicious! A great way to use up the bell peppers and eggplants that come with the garden’s last hurrah.
I followed the recipe exactly as written. Next time I’ll use less of the cornstarch slurry; my stove is pretty powerful, so it seems like it evaporated more of the water than the recipe expected. The recipe didn’t say to add it a little at a time like other recipes on here sometimes do, so I did use all of it. Still tasty, but a little gloopy: I’d say hold back on the cornstarch until the sauce is as thick as you’d like. But now I know, and I’ll definitely make this again, so I’ve got many chances to figure it out!
Hi Alex, in this case, I’d add a little bit of water (1 to 2 tablespoons) to “smooth” everything out.
Perfect tip on how to cook the eggplants to make this delicious three earthly bounties!
So happy to hear that.
Delicious! A wonderful way to help us eat all the bountiful eggplant from our garden! Definitely a keeper.
Happy harvest and happy eating!
Maybe this is a strange question because I can imagine the potato being essential for the dish, but is there anything non starchy I can use instead of potato that would go well in this dish?
You can decide what to use, as long as it’s not leafy greens as they produce too much liquid.
Thank you so much for commenting. I will try it with courgette/zucchini this weekend.