Preheat the oven to 170’. Roast the aubergine for 22 mins, then turn over, and roast for another 22 mins.
Burn the chilli directly over a gas flame or lay directly on the glass of a ceramic hob, turning every 1-2 minutes until blackened all over.
Set aside to cool while you measure out the sauce ingredients - as with most stir-frying, it’s important to have all the ingredients ready to go before cooking.
Finely chop the burnt chilli, crush or mince the garlic, thinly slice the spring onion whites, and peel and finely chop the ginger.
Notice how the ginger has stringy fibres running along its length - try to slice across those to avoid strings in the finished dish
On a medium heat, fry the garlic and white spring onion, until softening and smelling delicious.
Add the 5-spice, disperse in the oil, and then add the doubanjiang. Turn up the heat to medium-high and fry the doubanjiang for around 1 minute - some caramelisation on the bottom is good, but be careful not to burn it.
Add the pickled chilli, sugar and light soy sauce, and mix everything together well.
Add the ginger, so that it cooks through by the time the sugar has dissolved - we don’t want to cook it for too long.
Remove from the heat, and check seasoning - it should be rich and a little sweet.
Slice the cooled aubergine in half longways, and slather on the sauce. Sprinkle with crushed peanuts, spring onion greens, Chinkiang vinegar, and enjoy.