Fish-flavoured Aubergine

In all the cookbooks I consulted for this dish, I never found one that had fish or even fish sauce in its ingredients. So it's a mystery to me why this is described as 'fish flavoured'. Maybe someone out there knows the history? I think I read something in Deh Ta-Shiung's book on the explanation but I couldn't remember what it was.

The original recipe I adapted from the Chinese Cuisine by Huang Su-Huei requires deep frying the aubergines (eggplants). Since I know aubergines are notorious suckers of oil (they're like sponge), I decided to pan fry it in a teflon pan and drizzled with a little oil. You get the same flavour but with less oil.


Fish-flavoured Aubergine

500 g  aubergine (eggplant) - sliced into 1/2-inch strips about 2-inches long
oil for frying
100 g  ground pork or beef
1 tsp hot bean paste
2 Tbsp chopped green onion
1 Tbsp minced ginger root
1 Tbsp minced garlic
1 1/2 Tbsp soy sauce
3/4 cup stock
1/2 Tbsp sugar
1/2 Tbsp vinegar
1/2 tsp cooking wine
1/2 Tbsp cornstarch
1 Tbsp water

1. Combine the cornstarch and water, mix well. Set aside.
2. Mix the soy sauce, stock, sugar, vinegar, and cooking wine in another container. Set aside.
3. Put the aubergines in a non-stick pan and drizzle a little to pan-fry until soft and cooked. Do this in batches. Set aside.
4. In a wok, heat about 1 Tbsp oil until smoking hot. Stir fry the minced pork until it changes colour (about 3 minutes).
5. Add in the hot bean paste, stir to mix.
6. Then add the chopped green onion, garlic, and ginger. Stir fry until aromatic.
7. Stir in the fried aubergines.
8. Add the soy sauce mixture and cook for 1 minute.
9. Thicken sauce by adding in the cornstarch mixture. Bring to boil and stir. Dish up and serve.