Eggplant Lu

Another recipe I tried last week from Wei Zhong's Sister's Military Village Food (偉忠姐姐的眷村菜) book was the eggplant lu dish. I've now understood "lu" in northern speak means to make a gravy or stew. The recipe calls for Chinese type eggplant cut in slices. The slices are then dry sauteed with very little oil until cooked through. You put the slices aside. You add a bit of ground pork and saute with scallions, then rice wine, 5 spice powder, soy sauce and let that come to boil with water. Then add in the previous dry-fried eggplants slices and let simmer for about 15 minutes to allow for all the flavours to meld. You add some corn or tapioca starch to this mixture to create the "lu" or gravy. Voila... very homey and fantastic with rice!