Eggplant, Tofu, and Mushroom Clay Pot
Get your veggies in with this Cantonese style eggplant, tofu, and mushroom clay pot recipe. Cooked in a savory sauce, this clay pot dish is best served with rice.
What is a Clay Pot Recipe?
Based off all my mochi recipes, you may not know that I am half Cantonese. Add in the fact that my husband is full Cantonese, and you can imagine that actually, we eat quite a bit of Cantonese food in our family! I really love the kind of slurpy, saucy texture of a lot of Cantonese food. A great example of this is a clay pot meal. In many Asian countries, clay pots are often used for slow cooks, braises, and things that do well over low to medium heat. Rice was actually originally cooked in clay pots! In fact, I really enjoy cooking rice in clay pots still – it gets such a nice texture and flavor.
At Cantonese restaurants, I really enjoy ordering clay pot entrees. They usually have some sort of protein and a mix of veggies, covered in a savory sauce. It’s basically a stew, now that I think about it. One of my favorite renditions is an eggplant, fried fish, and tofu clay pot, so that’s what I based this recipe on.
If you were going to make the original recipe, you would batter and fry the fish separately before putting it in the clay pot. You would also deep fry the eggplant first as well.
But you guys should know me by now; I try to keep things simple for home cooking. So instead of fried fish, I keep store-bought fried tofu as my main protein. Then, I added in some mushrooms for extra veggies. Plus, my kids LOVE mushrooms. And if you’ve ever tried feeding toddlers… you’ll know… you gotta have something they like at every meal or it’s a disaster.
Different Kinds of Clay Pots
Given that clay pots are used in many Asian countries, it should come as no surprise that there are a variety of different kinds of clay pots. Chinese clay pots are sometimes made with metal at the bottom so that it can withstand high heat. But I don’t have that kind of clay pot – I actually have a Japanese one. Like many clay pots, it’s meant for hot pots and stews and can’t go on high heat.
So, unfortunately, I do need to bust out an extra pan to pre-fry some of the ingredients for this dish. But trust me, it’s worth the extra cleanup!
All that to say, if you’re cooking this in a clay pot, make sure you know what kind you have and what temperatures it can withstand!
Where to Buy Clay Pots for Asian Cooking
For Japanese clay pots, you can order them online at Musubi Kiln. They’ve got a gorgeous selection of Japanese kitchenware, and I think if you use my link you get a small discount. Unfortunately, I don’t have a preferred vendor of Chinese clay pots. But if you have one, definitely let me know!
Of course, if you have an Asian market near you, they may sell some clay pots in store, although I can’t vouch for the quality. Even Daiso sometimes sells clay pots!
My Secret Sauce for Clay Pots
What makes this clay pot dish so good is definitely the sauce! I based my sauce on my favorite flavors from a Malaysian clay pot dish, actually. So it’s a minor departure from typical Cantonese food. But still, it’s very similar!
I use a combination of oyster sauce, light soy sauce, and sweet soy sauce. I swear, this is the best. It’s got that perfect balance of sweet, salty, and umami. The oyster sauce makes this dish not vegan, unfortunately, but if you want to try and vegan-ify it, you can try substituting hoisin instead. If you don’t have sweet soy sauce, you can use a dark soy sauce and add a little sugar or honey instead.
You can also use this sauce with different vegetables or proteins. I even use it on noodles!
More Chinese Recipes
If you liked this recipe, you may like browsing through these:
Eggplant Tofu and Mushroom Clay Pot
Ingredients
- 1 clove garlic, chopped
- 1 1 inch knob ginger, peeled and roughly sliced
- 1 Chinese eggplant
- 8 oz fried tofu
- 150 g white shimeji mushrooms, ends sliced and washed
- 1 cup water or stock
- 1 tbsp light soy sauce
- 2 tbsp sweet soy sauce
- 2 tbsp oyster sauce
- 1 tsp shaoxing wine, optional
- 1 tsp cornstarch
- 1/4 cup water
- oil for frying
Equipment
- Clay Pot Can use any other pot good for braising
Instructions
- Cut eggplant into 3-4" long sections and quarter each section.
- In a separate frying pan, heat a generous amount of oil with garlic and ginger. Quickly fry the eggplant in the oil, just until the purple skins start to char.
- Transfer garlic, ginger, and eggplant into a clay pot.
- Add the mushrooms and tofu to the clay pot.
- In a bowl, mix light soy sauce, sweet soy sauce, oyster sauce, and shaoxing wine (if using). Pour your mix into the clay pot.
- Add your cup of water or stock to the clay pot. Cover, and cook on medium heat until liquids are simmering, 10-15 minutes.
- In a separate bowl, mix cornstarch and 1/4 cup water to make a slurry.
- Uncover clay pot and add your slurry while stirring. The liquids in the pot should thicken to a sauce consistency. If your clay pot still looks too liquidy, add more cornstarch/water slurry until it reaches your desired consistency or let your clay pot continue to simmer until the extra liquid has evaporated.
- Take off the heat and serve with Jasmine rice.
