Eggplant in Garlic Sauce

A popular feature at Szechuan restaurants, Eggplant in Garlic Sauce consists of chunks of eggplant and ground pork that are braised in a garlicky sauce. This dish gets its heat from chili garlic sauce, available at Asian/Chinese markets. The eggplant is Chinese eggplant, a long, thin eggplant that is usually purple in color and often has a white streak.
The only tricky part to making Eggplant in Garlic Sauce comes when it's time to cook the eggplant. If you've ever fried eggplant, you'll know it loves to soak up oil! To get around this problem, in this recipe the eggplant is partially cooked in boiling water before being added to the pork and seasonings in the wok. However, I’ve included instructions for stir-frying the eggplant if you want to prepare it in a more traditional way.
Here are the ingredients you'll need to make Braised Eggplant in Garlic Sauce:

• 2 medium Chinese eggplant (about 10 - 11 ounces)
• 2 teaspoons minced garlic
• 1 teaspoon minced ginger
• 1 green onion (spring onion, scallion) white and green parts, finely chopped
• Sauce:
• 1 1/2 TB (4 1/2 tsp) dark soy sauce
• 1 1/2 TB (4 1/2 tsp) light soy sauce
• 1 TB Chinese red rice vinegar, balsamic vinegar or red wine vinegar
• 1 TB Chinese rice wine or dry sherry
• 1/2 teaspoon granulated sugar
• 1/3 cup chicken broth
  Other:
• 3 – 4 TB ground pork (no more than 1/4 cup)
• Black pepper, pinch
• 1/4 tsp cornstarch
• 1 TB vegetable or peanut oil for stir-frying
• 1 TB chili garlic sauce
• 1 tsp. cornstarch mixed with 1 TB water