I made something!

Oh yeaaaah!

One of my students, when we were discussing what they eat for breakfast/lunch/dinner mentioned he had mabo tofu, but with eggplant instead of tofu. I instantly thought of the best Chinese dish in the world, spicy garlic eggplant!

As I began craving it, I tried my best to prepare my stomach not to eat it since I would have to make it myself (Sam hates eggplant). So, I asked Sam to pick up some eggplant and, this very morning, I made it! Yay!

I altered this recipe to include more spices (four times the peppers, a bunch of chili oil at various points, and some sweet garlic chili sauce), substituted black vinegar for aged rice vinegar, substituted sugar for mirin, added a carrot, and (at least) tripled the garlic.

Result? Awesomeness! It is spicy, which I wanted, and it is so, so good! I think I am flighting back some serious cold symptoms, so the spice and added goodness should help me combat whatever is at my immune system’s gates.