3/28/2020: It has been a while since I posted a recipe here. But I am pleased to see the eggplant color turned out so nice. I also received a message from chinese.home.cooks @Instagram asking me how to keep the purple color of the eggplant, so I am posting my recipe here:

Ingredients:  eggplant, string beans, garlic, salt,  flour, soy sauce, vinegar, corn starch.

Instructions:

1. I roll-cut the eggplant with slanted angle (or any cut you prefer). Place them in a bowl, mix with salt, and set for 10 minutes. You will see some liquid come out of the eggplant. Add (1) tablespoon of flour and make sure all eggplant is covered with flour.
2. Heat vegetable oil that is enough to cover all the eggplant. Use medium-high heat to flash fry the eggplant for 1 minute until it becomes tender. Drain and take the eggplant out.
3. At the same time, boil water with some salt, and cook the string beans for 5 minutes, then remove the string beans from the water.
4. Slice garlic (about 5 or 6 cloves). Put some oil in frying pan and add the garlic, add the string beans, then the eggplant. Add soy sauce, vinegar and corn starch that was mixed well with some water before pouring into the pan to thicken the sauce.

The flour and flash fry for a short time are my ways to maintain the purple color of the eggplant. Also, you could use any other vegetables such as green beans, bean sprouts, and onion to go with the eggplant. I used string beans because it’s one of my grandson’s favorite vegetables and it turned out pretty well this time.

I used only one eggplant, which is enough to make one dish for a small family of three adults and two kids. You could use two eggplants for a bigger family. I hope you will try to make this dish and enjoy it!