Fish-fragrant aubergine (Yuxiang qiezi)

1. Cut the aubergine into 8 cm long, finger-thick batons, salt them and leave for 15 minutes, then squeeze out and pat dry.

2. Finely chop the garlic and ginger and slice the spring onions, keeping the white and green parts separate; for the sauce, mix the soy sauce, sugar, black rice vinegar, cornflour and water.

3. Heat most of the oil in the wok and fry the aubergine for 6-8 minutes until golden and creamy-soft; lift out.

4. In the remaining oil, fry the doubanjiang for 30 seconds until the oil turns red, then add the garlic, ginger and spring onion whites and fry for another 30 seconds.

5. Return the aubergine, pour in the sauce and toss for 1-2 minutes until the sauce thickens and glazes the aubergine.

6. Sprinkle with the spring onion greens and serve with rice.

Tip: "Fish-fragrant" refers to the seasonings of Sichuan fish cookery – there's no fish in it. The sweet-sour-spicy balance is everything; you can fry the aubergine in less oil if you steam it for 5 minutes first.