Reply #3: One of our local Chinese carryout places makes a great eggplant dish.

[Denninmi]

It's very simple, actually, just chunks of Japanese eggplant with the skin on, white meat chicken sliced thin, and onions, in a brown sauce. They cook the eggplant so it is soft but not completely mushy, and the sweetness of it really comes through. I haven't tried recreating it at home yet, but I don't think it would be too complicated. I'm sure the sauce is basically just chicken stock, some black bean paste, ginger, garlic, maybe just a pinch of sugar. Simple but very satisfying. I could see adding some sliced mushrooms and perhaps a little red pepper to dress it up a bit.