Impromptu Eggplant Mushroom Stir-fry 茄子と椎茸のオイスターソース炒め

This is an eggplant dish I came up using what I had on hand (#1). I got some ideas from other recipes I saw but I did not base this dish on any one particular recipe. I made simmered pork or “Nibuta 煮豚” the other day. So instead of ground pork, I used finely chopped nibuta. Since we got groceries from Weee this week, I processed fresh shiitake mushrooms by removing the stems. Then I chopped up the stems into small pieces and sauted them with olive oil and finely chopped scallion. I seasoned them with salt and pepper. (This can be used to make other dishes). I placed the shiitake caps in a Ziploc bag with a paper towel to absorb any moisture which comes out of the mushrooms while they are in the fridge. I also washed and blanched fresh wood ear mushrooms and placed them in a Ziploc bag with paper towel too. I have found that processing the mushrooms this way makes them last much longer. Unfortunately, I have not come up with a way to make fresh eggplants last longer, so I have to use them up fairly quickly. So this is my impromptu eggplant stir-fly with shiitake and wood ear mushroom, finely chopped nibuta pork, ginger, scallion and seasoned with Chinese “Shoko-shu 紹興酒” cooking wine, mirin, concentrated noodle sauce and oyster sauce. This was not particularly special but certainly more than edible. All the ingredients I used gave it a lot of flavor

Ingredients:
One large Asian eggplant, stem end removed, and cut into long “ran-giri 乱切り” (#2).
3-4 fresh shiitake mushrooms, cut in half or quarters
4-6 fresh wood ear mushrooms (previously branched and washed), cut into strips
2 scallions, white and green parts, finely chopped
4-5 slices simmered pork “Nibuta 煮豚”, finely diced
1 tbs of finely chopped shiitake mushroom stems and shallot sautéed in olive oil (optional)
1 tbs finely chopped ginger
2 tbs + 1/2 tbs oil
1 tbs potato starch slurries for thickening the sauce

Seasonings (mix all seasonings in a small bowl)
6 tbs water
2 tbs Chinese “shoko 紹興料理酒” cooking wine
1 tbs x4 concentrated Japanese noodle sauce or soy sauce
1 tbs oyster sauce

Directions:
Add the oil into the frying pan on medium flame, add the eggplant, toss for a few minutes to coat with the oil. 
Turn the skins side down (#2) and cook until skin side browns, turn over and brown the fresh sides and set aside

Add 1/2 tbs oil in the same pan, add the shiitake stem mixture, ginger and stir for 30 seconds, add the mushrooms and sauté for a few minutes
Add back the eggplants and sauté for one minute.
Add the seasonings and cook for a few minutes
Taste and adjust the seasoning
Add the potato starch slurries and mix until thickened (#3)
Add the scallions and serve (#1)

Notes to self:  it was a bit too sweet for me. Next time I should consider reducing the mirin. The chopped simmered pork has almost disappeared. Probably, I should have added more. But overall, this is not too bad.