New roasted eggplant ideas
I have been roasting eggplant all summer and would love some new ideas. Usually I cube it, toss with a little olive oil and salt, and roast. Then I use it in all kinds of salads and pasta dishes. Ideas for some simple twists?
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It was a blanket statement. However in Japanese techs, salting and draining is used in a lot of veggies like cucumbers with tiny seeds for things like wakame salads etc.
In big eggplants we mostly use salt to take out bitterness which lives in the seeds. With Japaneese eggplant, with tiny seeds, it's used to extract moisture making it more receptive for the braising in the dish I mentioned so it soaks up the braising liquid. So, same tech, but for different reasons.
It all depends on the tech you use to cook it and how good the quality of the eggplant is---a minor point to be sure. But yes, Japanese eggplant normally doesn't require weeping. Personally, for Japanese eggplant I just slice it and braise it if it's a young veggie---but then you can also get more mature Asian eggplants that would benefit. The big globe style eggplants really need the salt drain in all case. There's a fuzzy line..which isn't easily quantified.
That's far too verbose an answer, but more a guideline than a rule for Asian eggplants.
If you think my post was out of line..I'd suggest using the "Flag" button and let the moderators of this site decide.
where you slice into thick rounds, salt and rinse and drain; and then lightly sear it in a hot castiron pan, and finish it up with a slow simmer with a braising sauce of soy, ginger, garlic, star anise, And reduce the braising liquid with some sake addition. And serve with slivers of green onions and bonito flakes in little dishes. Which works better with japaneese eggplants with tiny seeds.
Google 'red cooked' eggplant for better description.