1. Choose firm purple eggplant, remove stalk and without peeling, cut into thumb size pieces.

2. Heat oil in wok until very hot. Put eggplant in, turn heat to low, stir fry until it's soft (about 3 minutes). Then press eggplant to squeeze out excess oil. Remove eggplant from wok and set aside.

3. Into wok add chopped garlic, ginger, and hot bean paste, stir a few seconds, add soy sauce, sugar, salt, and soup stock and bring to boil. Add eggplant, cook about 1 minute until sauce is gone.

4. Add vinegar and sesame oil and stir until heated through. Sprinkle with chopped green onion. Mix carefully and serve.

Notes I don't what eggplants are like in your part of the kitchen, but here they are usually quite large and one eggplant will suffice. If you can't find hot bean paste at your local Asian grocery, I find that black bean paste and little chili works fine.

(Fro, Pei-Mei's Chinese Cookbook vol 1)