Di San Xian

Wash the potatoes, eggplant, and pointed green peppers thoroughly.

Peel the potatoes.

Cut the eggplant and potatoes into bite-sized irregular chunks, roughly the size of a large grape.

Tear the pointed green peppers by hand along their natural ridges into pieces slightly larger than the potato and eggplant chunks.

Remove as much surface moisture as possible from the green peppers to reduce oil splattering during frying. Pat them dry with kitchen paper.

Cut one small scallion into small pieces. Finely mince 3 garlic cloves and divide the garlic into two equal portions. Finely mince a small piece of ginger, about the size of the tip of your thumb.

In an empty bowl, combine 10ml of light soy sauce, 10g of sugar, 8g of starch, and 80ml of water. Stir thoroughly until evenly mixed, then set the sauce mixture aside.

Heat a wok (or the alternative cookware specified above) and add 150 ml of cooking oil.

Add the potatoes and fry for approximately 3–4 minutes, until golden and easily pierced with a fork.

Remove the potatoes from the wok, leaving the oil behind.

Add the eggplant and fry for approximately 2–3 minutes. The eggplant should be soft, lightly browned around the edges, and beginning to release excess oil.

Remove the eggplant from the wok, leaving any remaining oil behind. Reheat the wok, then add 15 ml of fresh cooking oil if no liquid oil remains.

Add the green pepper pieces and fry for about 15 seconds, until the edges are lightly blistered. Remove them immediately, then carefully pour the oil out of the wok.

Reheat the wok and add 15 ml of fresh cooking oil.

Add the prepared scallion and ginger, along with one portion of the minced garlic. Stir-fry over medium-low heat until fragrant.

Add 15ml of doubanjiang. Reduce the heat to low and stir-fry until the paste releases red oil and becomes fragrant.

Pour in the prepared sauce mixture and immediately increase the heat to high. Stir rapidly to prevent sticking or burning. After approximately 10 seconds, the sauce should begin to bubble and thicken.

Immediately add all the fried potatoes, eggplant, and green peppers.

Stir-fry for 20 seconds, allowing the thickened sauce to coat all the ingredients evenly.

Turn off the heat and add the remaining minced garlic. Toss until evenly combined, then transfer to a serving plate.