Eggplant sang choy bow

The last few days of Frugal February are here and I even managed to get hubby onboard. He made a delicious fruit salad compote with no sugar which went perfectly with a few large spoonfuls of icecream that the kids and I devoured. 

Still in theme of Chinese New Year, I wanted something with eggplant as I've always eaten sang choy bow but have never attempted to try it. I always find that I would have this dish and be full before continuing on with the banquet at my fave Chinese Restaurant. I must say the result is pretty good and I made enough to have again the second night.

 Serves 4

Ingredients

1 iceberg lettuce

1 eggplant diced into 1cm cubes
1 cup of rice bran oil

2 tsp rice bran oil
3 shallots (white part only) finely sliced
2 tsp of freshly finely chopped ginger (typically a knob of ginger as big as your thumb)
1 red chilli sliced finely 
500g pork mince
2 tbsp hoisin sauce
1 tbsp sesame oil
1 tsp Szechuan pepper
227g can water chestnuts drained and chopped
2tbsp chopped coriander leaves

Method

1. Peel 8 lettuce leaves and trim if need be to make into large cups
2. Heat 1 cup of oil in a wok on high
3. Add eggplant pieces and cook for 4mins turning these over. Remove from oil then place onto paper towel lined plate.
3. Remove oil but retain 2 tsp of oil for the next part
4 Stir fry shallots, ginger and chili for 1-2 minutes
5. Add pork mince and cook for 5mins until colour changes
6. Add hoisin, szechuan pepper, soy sauce, sesame oil and water chestnuts.
7. Continue to stir fry for another 2-3 minutes
8. Transfer into a serving bowl and stir though the coriander
9. Arrange lettuce cups on a platter, spoon a little of the pork mix into each leaf and serve

Handy hints

Great to make big batches to have handy for quick meals.
My kids love this dish so much so we are fighting over the last spoonful of the eggplant mince mix