Tell you a secret to cook home-made 烧茄子 :

1. cut eggplant into pieces in whatever size you prefer;
2. put cut eggplant into boiling water, or steam them for while, to let eggplant to absorb enough water;
3. let the eggplant stay in air and dry out little bit, so no extra water outside, but inside they are still wet;
4. pan-fry eggplant in oil until they look yellowish; (not fry, but pan-fry, so you don’t need too much oil, though, more than ordinary pan-fry cooking of other vegetables. Anyway, eggplant would not absorb all the oil you use to fry them, even if you put tons of oil in cooker.)
5. put soy bean sauce, sugar, garlic in the cooker and cook eggplant together.

That is it! The step 2 is the key, and my invention. :) All my friends and my family members love 烧茄子 I made. :)