{"id":15715,"date":"2022-08-31T19:00:00","date_gmt":"2022-08-31T17:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.thegreenlist.nl\/?p=15715"},"modified":"2025-11-26T17:07:21","modified_gmt":"2025-11-26T16:07:21","slug":"recipe-lilac-aubergine-in-szechuan-sauce","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thegreenlist.nl\/en\/recept-lila-aubergine-in-szechuan-saus\/","title":{"rendered":"Vegan stew: lilac aubergine in Szechuan sauce"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Vega(n) foodies and vegetable lovers beware. Have you discovered the lilac aubergine yet? The long thin brother of the regular aubergine with a soft sweet skin. The skin can also be eaten plain! In a spicy Szechuan sauce, you won't know what you're tasting! So hop over to the toko. Or to the supermarket, because we are spotting this lilac aubergine in more and more supermarkets. Cool!<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

Lilac aubergine?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

I have not known the lilac aubergine for very long and to my knowledge it is relatively new on the supermarket vegetable shelf. It almost has to be, because this thin lettuce does stand out with its unusual appearance. The lilac aubergine looks different from an ordinary aubergine, but it also tastes different. It has a sweet, soft skin that can also be eaten. Not tough! And this aubergine has fewer seeds, making it softer and less bitter in flavour. This makes the lilac aubergine an ideal candidate for a vegan stew!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This aubergine looks tropical. That is partly true: it is a favourite vegetable in Indian and Surinamese cuisine. I also discovered it at the toko. But by now, it has become quite common and I regularly spot it in supermarkets too. The lilac aubergine, also known as Chinese aubergine, originally comes from Asia, but is now grown in more places around the world. A Dutch supermarket often lists Spain as the country of origin on the packaging. An excellent sustainable choice, but you can also buy it in Spain. Growing in the Netherlands<\/a> (Sowing in January and harvesting in June-August). I am curious: I will check this summer if I also spot a Dutch lilac aubergine somewhere. That would be fun!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Lilac aubergine, Chinese aubergine, Japanese aubergine, brinjal...<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

You can come across this striking aubergine under other names such as Chinese aubergine, Asian aubergine, thin aubergine, Chinese eggplant, Japanese aubergine, boulanger (Suriname), brinjal (India), terong (Indonesia), nasubi \/ \u8304\u5b50 (Japan), qie zi \/ qi\u00e9zi \/ \u8304\u5b50 (China).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Source: asian-ingredients.nl<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

Szechuan sauce?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

From that (too) crazy lilac aubergine, I make a vegan stew in a Szechuan sauce. Sounds complicated? Not really! When we talk about Chinese cuisine, we usually mean Cantonese cuisine. But China is big! Located in the centre of the country, Szechuan (Sichuan) is a region with its own cuisine and flavour palette. This region is characterised by spicier food. Lilac aubergine in Szechuan sauce is a side dish that gives an insane explosion of flavour: you taste sweet, sour, salty and the fifth basic flavour: umami, which is Japanese for \u2018deliciousness\u2019. Szechuan sauce can be bought ready-made in a jar at the toko and contains ingredients like red chillies, garlic, ginger, soy sauce, and sometimes even some honey or sugar to add that sweet kick. For this dish, I make my own sauce with dried Szechuan chillies. Find more toko shopping tips here.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

This vegan stew is easy to prepare, so a perfect snack to surprise your vegan friends with. Or delicious as a side dish. Bring it on!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Vegan stew of lilac aubergine. If you can't find this aubergine, you can also use a regular aubergine for this dish.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Don't sulk, deliciously wok that lilac aubergine<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

This delicious Chinese side dish is a wok dish. You can make it easier on yourself and prepare it earlier, so you can wok the dish on the spur of the moment in 15 minutes. For all my Asian wok dishes, I use the Macao wok from the WMF brand<\/a>. If you are still looking for good eco-friendly pans, this is a tip. Saskia wrote an article about our pan search. The short version: we had pans with PFAS (not a pleasant observation). We wanted to get rid of those. And so we went in search of a new set.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n

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Vegan stew: lilac aubergine in Szechuan sauce<\/h2>\n
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Lilac aubergine in Szechuan sauce is one of my favourite (vegan) Chinese dishes. Now if you can't find lilac aubergines, you can also substitute it with 'regular' aubergines from the supermarket. In that case, cut the seeds from the core and peel the aubergines with a peeler. If you get your hands on a lilac aubergine, leave the skin untouched. This is how I prepare this vegan stew!<\/strong><\/span><\/div>\n
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