Hot and Sour Eggplant

This dish took WAY less time than I imagined... so quick and easy! This amount will serve 3-4 as an appetizer and 2 as an entree, especially with rice or a salad.

Ingredients:
-2 medium eggplants, trimmed and sliced lengthwise into eighths and then once halfwise
-1 tbsp sesame oil
-1 tsp cornstarch
-1 tbsp sambal olek chili sauce (you can also use Sriracha, but then lessen the sugar a bit because it has more sugar than sambal olek)
-1 small clove garlic, diced finely
-3/4 tbsp sugar
-1 1/2 tbsp soy sauce
-1 1/2 tbsp rice vinegar
-1/4 tsp ground ginger
-1 scallion, finely sliced

Method:

After slicing the eggplant, put all the slices into a large bowl of warm water, heavily salted. If you need, place a salad plate or something over the slices so they are immersed in the water as much as possible. Meanwhile, put your wok on the stove on high and dice your scallions.

In a bowl, mix the following together with a fork: cornstarch, sambal olek, garlic, sugar, soy sauce, rice vinegar, and ginger. Make sure the cornstarch is dissolved and not clumpy. Then drain the eggplant and put the slices onto a paper towel to dry, with more paper towels on top. Thoroughly pat dry all the pieces.

When your wok is very hot, add 1/2 tbsp of the sesame oil and then throw in the eggpant slices (carefully!). Using a wooden spoon, toss the eggplant around a bit so they brown nicely and don't burn. After about 5 minutes they should be soft and smell really nice. If they are getting too dry, add in the other 1/2 tbsp of sesame oil. Then pour in the sauce you just made and the scallions and stir/toss for about 2 minutes until thoroughly coatedand the sauce is thick.

Pour the whole thing onto a serving plate and serve hot! You can sprinkle some sesame seeds on top for garnish.

Eggplant slices before fully cooked - just as I added them to the wok