One vegetable that many cooks might find intimidating is eggplant. It seems like there are a lot of guidelines and procedures to follow when cooking eggplant if you want it to turn out tasty and not taste bitter. It's not impossible to learn how to cook with eggplant, though. Here's all you need to know about selecting a decent eggplant and preparing it, along with some cooking tips to help you elevate the ordinary eggplant in your favourite eggplant recipes.
How To Choose
From July to November is the eggplant season. However, these days you find vegetables all year round. Look for eggplants with shiny, smooth skin that has a little give to it. A really soft eggplant is past its prime. Examining the stem is one of the most effective techniques to determine if an eggplant is rotten. Avoid it if it's mouldy. Go small if you can in terms of size. Compared to small eggplants, big eggplants typically have a more bitter flavour and a rougher skin that may need to be peeled.
How To Cook
Are you unsure if you can consume raw eggplant? In moderation, it's fine, although cooked eggplant is preferable. Traditionally, there were several time-consuming stages involved in preparing eggplant for cooking (salting, rinsing...). Use these methods instead to ensure flawless eggplant with the least amount of hassle.
A vegetable that requires little preparation effort is eggplant. If you want to roast the skin, all you may need to do is prick it with a fork and cut it into the desired shape (round slices, long strips, or cubes). You can peel eggplant using a vegetable peeler or paring knife if your eggplant is larger and has a rougher skin.
Sprinkle Salt
It's essential to salt eggplant before cooking it; this practise dates back a long time and was developed to lessen the bitterness and aid in drawing out moisture. However, modern eggplants aren't as bitter (especially if you choose smaller ones), so it's really only necessary for frying and other cooking methods when the moisture content truly matters. If you want to salt the eggplant before cooking it, cut it into rounds or dice it according to the recipe's requirements, then spread the pieces out on a paper towel, sprinkle it with salt liberally, and cover it with extra paper towels (and perhaps a heavy pan to weigh it down). After 45 minutes of waiting, rinse the eggplant to get rid of the extra salt and bitter liquid.
Since eggplant cooks like a sponge, a lot of cooking liquid will be absorbed by it. To ensure that the texture is perfect, stay true to the recipe's liquid measurements.
Marination
Eggplant has a moderate flavour that may easily blend with any flavours you add to the meal, whether Mediterranean or a robust Indian curry. It can also give you the same texture as meat for your meatless recipes. Try marinating eggplant in your preferred flavour combination to discover what this vegetable is capable of.
Storage
For about a week, raw eggplant can be kept in the refrigerator. However, if the eggplant has been roasted and pureed, it can be frozen. Additionally, you can freeze foods like miso eggplant dip.