Yujiang Dried Eggplant 余江茄子干

Yujiang Dried Eggplant (余江茄子干) is a sun-dried snack from Yujiang District (余江区) of Yingtan (鹰潭), Jiangxi. It is not plain dried eggplant: dried eggplant skin is wrapped around a filling of glutinous rice, chilli and sugar, then steamed and dried again until it can be cut into small chewy pieces. A 2025 Xinhua report names it as a provincial-level item of intangible cultural heritage.

How it is made

An article by the Yujiang district tax bureau on People's Daily Online's Jiangxi channel describes the household method. Every summer, families in Yujiang pick well-shaped eggplants, wash them, remove the stems, and boil them soft before drying them in the sun. The dried eggplant skin is then wrapped around a filling made from glutinous rice, chilli, white sugar and other ingredients. The parcels are steamed and dried again, and the steaming and drying are repeated several times before the eggplant is cut into small pieces to eat.

Flavour and texture

The finished pieces combine fragrant, hot, sweet and salty flavours, with a texture that is both chewy and soft. The same article notes that it looks plain but is an everyday snack for many people, and a taste of home for Yujiang people living elsewhere.

Where it comes from

According to the People's Daily Online article, Yujiang dried eggplant dates from the late Yuan and early Ming, giving the craft more than 600 years of history. In the mid-1990s it won Jiangxi provincial awards for new products from township enterprises and for new science and technology products. Once only made at home, it is now also made on production lines and sold in supermarkets. In December 2025 it was shown as a provincial heritage item at Yingtan's first cultural heritage exhibition.