Spicy Sichuan Style Fried Eggplant (鱼香茄子)

1. Slice your eggplant into matchstick shapes, about 1/4 inch thick and 3-4 inches long.
2. Soak them in heavily salted water with a weight to keep them submerged, for 20 minutes. This step is optional but helps to keep eggplants from soaking up oil during the frying process.
3. In the meantime, prep your sauce by combining soy sauce, Chinkiang vinegar, sugar, and water. Set to the side.
4. Thoroughly dry the eggplants, then coat them with a thin dusting of cornstarch.
5. Heat up oil in a wok or deep pan. The oil is ready when a stray piece of cornstarch starts bubbling.
6. Fry eggplants in batches until golden brown. Remove and drain excess oil.
7. To put it all together, start by heating a wok (or clean the one you used for frying).
8. Fry the fermented bean paste for a few seconds.
9. Add in minced ginger and minced garlic and cook until fragrant.
10. Add your sauce mixture (soy sauce, vinegar, sugar, water) and stir to combine, cooking until it starts to look a little thicker.
11. If the sauce is not thick enough to coat the back of a spoon, make a cornstarch slurry (1 part starch to 2 parts water) and add it to the sauce, stirring until it thickens.
12. Toss in the fried eggplant and flip until everything's covered in sauce.
13. Enjoy immediately!