This year, Punxsutawney Phil did not see this shadow—signaling an early spring, hooray!—but with flurries of snow, bomb cyclones, and atmospheric rivers, warm, sunny days feel epically far away. The best way to combat the endless bluster and cold-weather doldrums? A big skilletful of something spicy, punchy, and all-around comforting.
A play of the beloved Sichuan dish, mapo tofu—a saucy, cozy combination of tofu, Sichuan peppercorns, fermenented chili-soy bean paste, and plenty of garlic and ginger—this take swaps in luscious, silky chunks of fried eggplant for the tofu. Some versions of mapo tofu use ground beef or pork to season the dish, but to make this veggie-friendly, finely chopped shiitake mushrooms stand in for the meat, providing heft and layered umami. To round everything out, sliced rice cakes bring a tender, yet toothsome foil to the eggplant, and turn this into a damn good one-pot meal.
Looking for more warming wonders to keep you cozy until spring? Here’s some picks from the From Head to Table archives: Tangy Coconut Chicken & Dumplings, My Fave Broccoli Cheddar Soup, and Sticky Rice Cabbage Rolls.
Mapo Eggplant with Rice Cakes
Rice cakes—nian gao, in Chinese, and tteok, in Korean—come in many shapes and sizes. The oblong, sliced ones work particularly well in this dish, providing ample surface area for sauce. You can use whatever shape you like—keep in mind the cooking time may vary slightly and you may need a couple extra splashes of stock or water depending on how much liquid they absorb. You can find pre-packaged rice cakes in some East Asian supermarkets, and a wider array in Korean grocery stores.
Pro-tip: Keep a bag of rice cakes in the freezer for quick meals on the fly. Just make sure to soak them in cold water for 15 minutes—you can do all the prep work while they soak—and drain before using.
Serves 4
INGREDIENTS
2 to 3 medium Japanese eggplants or 1 large globe eggplant (about 14 to 16 ounces total)
¾ teaspoon Diamond Crystal or ½ teaspoon Morton’s kosher salt
¼ pound shiitake mushrooms
4 cloves garlic
1-inch piece ginger
¾ teaspoon Sichuan peppercorns
1¼ cups vegetable or chicken stock
2 tablespoons Chinese Shaoxing wine
1 tablespoon oyster sauce or vegetarian oyster-flavored sauce
1 teaspoon soy sauce
¼ teaspoon toasted sesame oil
4 tablespoons neutral oil, such as canola or rapeseed
1½ tablespoons doubanjiang paste (fermented chili broad bean paste)
10 ounces sliced rice cakes
1½ teaspoons cornstarch
Thinly sliced green onions
Homemade chili-shallot crisp or your favorite store-bought chili crisp, for finishing
METHOD
Cut 2 to 3 Japanese eggplants into 1” cubes, place in a bowl, toss with ¾ teaspoon Diamond Crystal or ½ teaspoon Morton’s kosher salt, and let sit for 15 minutes. (If using frozen sliced rice cakes, soak them in cold water for 15 minutes as well, then drain before using.)
Meanwhile, clean and finely chop ¼ pound shiitake mushrooms and mince 4 cloves garlic and a 1-inch piece fresh ginger. Then, add ¾ teaspoon Sichuan peppercorns to a mortar and gentle crush into a very coarse powder. (Alternatively, you can crush them with the side of a chef’s knife and then run the knife through the peppercorns a couple times.)
To make the sauce, combine 1¼ cups vegetable or chicken stock, 2 tablespoons Chinese Shaoxing wine, 1 tablespoon oyster sauce, 1 teaspoon soy sauce, and ¼ teaspoon toasted sesame oil in a bowl, whisk to combine, and set aside.
Transfer the salted eggplant on a clean kitchen towel, leaving any liquid that’s accumulated at the bottom of the bowl, and pat dry.
Heat 3 tablespoons canola oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat until shimmering. Add the salted eggplant, spreading into an even layer, and cook, stirring occasionally, until golden on several sides and easily pierced with a knife (don’t worry if it isn’t fully cooked, it will get more cooking time later), 5 to 8 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, transfer the fried eggplant to a plate and set aside.
Reduce the heat to medium, add the remaining 1 tablespoon canola oil, and allow to heat for 30 to 45 seconds. When hot, add the reserved chopped mushrooms, garlic, and ginger, and cook, stirring frequently, until the mushrooms are tender and the alliums soften, 3 to 5 minutes. Add 1½ tablespoons doubanjiang paste and the reserved, crushed Sichuan peppercorns and fry, stirring constantly until the paste turns one shade darker, 1 to 1½ minutes more.
Add the reserved sauce mixture and stir, scraping up any bits stuck to the bottom of the pan. Add 10 ounces sliced rice cakes and reserved fried eggplant, gently stir to combine, and bring to a gentle simmer. Reduce the heat to low, cover, and simmer, stirring occasionally to make sure the rice cakes aren’t sticking, until the eggplant is cooked through and the rice cakes are tender yet toothsome, 13 to 17 minutes. If things are looking a little dry during cooking, add an extra splash of stock or water to loosen things up.
Whisk together 1½ teaspoons cornstarch and 2 tablespoons water in a bowl. Gently stir the slurry to the cooked eggplant and rice cakes, increase the heat to medium-high, and cook until sauce thickens and clings to the back of a spoon, 1 to 3 minutes. Turn off the heat and finish with thinly sliced green onions and a hearty drizzle of chili crisp. Serve directly out of the skillet.
Make-ahead: This dish is best prepared right before serving to maintain the integrity of the rice cakes. However, if you want to save yourself some time, you can mix the sauce and fry the eggplant ahead of time. That way, come dinnertime, everything can be on the table in 30 minutes.
Protein, please: You can go the more traditional route, and use silken tofu instead of eggplant. If you go this route, reduce the oil to 2 tablespoons when cooking the mushrooms, garlic, and ginger, then add the tofu during the last 5 to 10 minutes of cooking to heat through and soak up some of that delicious sauce.
If you’re an omnivore, you can also sub in 4 ounces ground beef, pork, chicken, or turkey for the mushrooms. Or, swap in 8 ounces peeled, deveined shrimp for the eggplant—adding these during the last 5 minutes of cooking.