With huge umami flavours, this Singapore-style stirfry is always a tasty treat

This is a homestyle dish not often seen in restaurants, but if you’re in Singapore, you’re likely to spot it being offered.

Homestyle: this dish has bucketloads of flavour and isn’t easy to find.

Tony Tan

less than 2 min read

2:50PMOctober 14, 2024

The Weekend Australian Magazine

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This is a homestyle dish not often seen in restaurants, but if you’re in Singapore and come across a stall at a food court that serves cze-cha (literally meaning “cook fry”) dishes, you’re likely to spot it being offered. It’s a dish that relies on the salt and umami of preserved soybeans. You’ll find them in Asian grocers, but some brands can be very salty, so be attentive with how much salt you add to the dish.

Try to my sambal snapper and my Indonesian beef rendang recipes.

Traditionally a dish for officer workers, this is a delicious and moreish offering. Photo: Mark Roper.

This is an edited extract from Tony Tan’s Asian Cooking. Photography by Mark Roper.

Eggplant with minced pork

Ingredients

• ½ cup neutral oil, plus extra as needed
• 600g eggplant, cut into 3cm pieces
• 150g shallots or 1 small onion, thinly sliced
• 3 teaspoons minced garlic
• 3 teaspoons minced ginger
• 1 tablespoon preserved soybeans, mashed (see above)
• 1 teaspoon chilli powder, or to taste
• 250g minced pork or prawns
• 2 teaspoons caster sugar
• 1 tablespoon fish sauce, or to taste
• Salt and white pepper, to taste
• Chopped coriander, crisp-fried shallots and thinly sliced long red chilli, to serve

Method

1. Heat the oil in a wok over high heat until shimmering, then fry the eggplant a few pieces at a time, turning occasionally, for 5 to 6 minutes or until soft.
2. Drain and set aside. In the same oil (you may need to add about 2 tablespoons, as the eggplant tends to absorb oil easily), fry the shallots, stirring occasionally, until golden.
3. Add the garlic and ginger followed by the soybean, chilli powder and minced pork and stir-fry, breaking up the mince with a metal spatula, until the mince is nicely browned, well separated and the flavours absorbed. Sprinkle the mixture with a splash of water, return the eggplant to the wok, then add the sugar and fish sauce.
4. Turn down the heat to mediumlow and cook, stirring, for another 3 minutes to allow the flavours to mingle. Season to taste with salt and pepper and add chopped coriander. Serve at once, topped with fried shallots and chilli.

Serves 6-8