The Method

1. Marinate pork: Mix minced pork with light soy sauce, cornstarch and sesame oil. Cover and place in refrigerator for about 20-30 minutes
2. Finely process dried cuttlefish with a food processor and marinate with Chinese Shaoxing wine whilst preparing other ingredients. If no food processor, you may soak it in hot water first, and finely dice them prior to marinating
3. Prepare eggplants: wash, pat dry and chop them in chunks. In a shallow bowl, mix cornstarch and salt, and then lightly coat or dredge the white portions of the chunks with the mixture
4. Deep fry eggplants: Heat oil in a small pot until very hot. Fry pieces for ~ 1 minute and set aside to drain. Fry in batches
5. Heat wok to medium to high heat. Add in a couple tablespoons of oil (you may reuse the deep drying oil), followed by minced garlic, spring onions and dried cuttlefish. When fragrant and garlic lightly browned, add in minced pork and stir fry a little to evenly brown the mince, then add in the chilli bean sauce, black vinegar and sugar. Stir fry and break up the mince at the same time for about 1 minute, followed by adding eggplant pieces. Stir fry for for a short 10-15 seconds to evenly coat eggplant pieces with sauce mixture and turn heat off. Transfer to a clay pot.
6. For clay pot cooking, pour in 1 cup of hot boiling water. Cover with lid and let it simmer over low heat for 10 minutes.
7. To serve, remove lid, garnish with roughly chopped coriander and serve immediately with steam white rice.