This delicate dish features tender eggplants slit and filled with savory stir-fried pork, enhanced with oyster sauce for rich umami flavor. Lightly steamed and pan-finished, it’s soft, juicy, and aromatic. Garnished with fresh chives, it makes a simple yet elegant Korean-Chinese side or main that’s both hearty and comforting.

Try this recipe from W Table.

Ingredients:

  • 250 grams ground pork
  • 2 eggplants
  • 1 to 2 tablespoons oyster sauce
  • Cooking oil as needed
  • 1 stalk chives
  • salt and black pepper

Pork marinade ingredients:

  • 1 tablespoon cooking wine
  • salt and black pepper

(Serves 2)

Instructions:

Trim the stems off the eggplants and make three lengthwise cuts along each eggplant.

In a pan, heat a little oil and stir-fry the marinated ground pork until fully cooked. In another pan, heat a little more oil, add the eggplants, cover with a lid and lightly cook until the slits begin to open. Fill the slits with the cooked pork. (Tip: Seasoning the pork with just salt and pepper is delicious, but adding 1 tablespoon of oyster sauce while frying enhances the umami flavor.)

In a pan, heat a little oil, add the oyster sauce, and place the filled eggplants in the pan. Cover with a lid and cook, flipping once, until the eggplants are fully tender. Transfer to a plate and garnish with chopped chives.

[Source: W Table]

(pork eggplant jjim. Pork eggplant stew, braised pork and eggplant)