Eggplant/Aubergine

[Panaderia Canadiense]

OK, coming at this from a botanical background, all eggplants are hermaphroditic, and there's never any such thing as a male fruit, eggplant or not. Fruits are, by definition, female reproductive organs when it comes to plants (if you want the technical thing, they're actually the plant's swollen ovaries). Some people however do refer to "male" eggplants as those that are longer, and "female" eggplants as the rounder types. I'm not sure how that got started, and it's completely botanically spurious, which irks me.

When it comes to using eggplants, c00kies is exactly right - younger fruits will have fewer mature seeds in them, which lowers their bitterness considerably. But if you're already slicing your eggplants thinly, why not salt and press them? Then, regardless of the age of the fruit when it was harvested, it will always be tender and relatively sweet (the salt pulls out and neutralizes the nicotinic alkaloids that make the flesh taste bitter). The white-skinned cultivars tend to be less bitter to begin with than the purple ones, but that's a personal observation and your palate may differ.

[liuzhou]

Reading the thread title, before reading the actual thread, I mentally listed a number of highly relevant points.

However, when I did the sensible thing and read the thread, I discovered that all my points had been more than adequately covered by people more knowledgeable than me, a group which covers most of the population of our planet.

I can only add that eggplants or aubergines come in all shapes, sizes and even colours. The more phallic ones may be referred to as 'male' and the more curvaceous as 'female', but they are neither really male or female.

Right now, I have a bunch of beautiful white eggplants on the shelf. I will describe them as female, but if I tell you why, I will be banned!

[Jaymes]

So, wait a minute...

Are y'all telling me there's nothing to the "round belly button is male; slit belly button is female" thing?

[Darienne]

We in this house are eggplant lovers and I am going to try Shel_B's interesting recipe. Never thought of doing that. Thanks.

[EvillyChic]

Hi,

I love cooking with eggplant. Today, I want to share of my completely irresistible “signature” dishes of eggplant. Hope you guys enjoy!

Ingredients (Serving 3)

• 2 medium size eggplants (about 500g)
  
• 300g pork (cut of your choice, recommended with medium high fat ratio)
  
• 100g apple snail meat (Optional, it is not poisonous and delicious in my opinion but if you are not used to eating seafood, simply leave it out, since it has distinct taste and smell, and sometimes weird reaction with your stomach. Warning: consume with caution)
  
• 200g firm tofu
  
• 2 medium size tomatoes
  
• 3 cloves of garlic
  
• ½ bulb of onion
  
• 5 shiso leaves (Encouraged, it does create a distinct smell for this dish, but if you cannot find it, just take it easy. Both green and purple is acceptable.)
  
• Some spring onion for garnish (optional)
  
• Condiments
  
  • 2 tsp. salt
    
  • 1 ½ tbsp. sugar
    
  • 3 tbsp. fish sauce (More or less to your own taste)
    
  • 1 tsp. ground black pepper
    
  • ½ tsp. turmeric powder (Please take some time to look for these in Asian markets, it’s the specialty of this dish)
    

Instructions

Preparations

Step 1: Cut the pork into bite size. Marinate them with 1 tsp. of salt, 1 tsp. grounded black pepper, ½ tbsp. sugar, and 1 tbsp. of fish sauce.

Marinate the apple snail meat with ½ tsp. of turmeric powder and ½ tsp. of salt.

Step 2: Cut the eggplant into bite size. Submerge them into light salty water to prevent them from being oxidized and browning up.

Step 3: Crush and chop the garlic finely. Slice onion into thin rings. Slice the tomatoes. Picture shows below.

Step 4: Slice tofu into cubes like this. Fried them in preheated pan with canola oil until both sides are golden. Get them out, and leave cool on the counter.

Real cooking

Step 5: Start cooking this dish by adding about 2 tbsp. of oil into a preheating pot of at least 2 liters. Add the prepared garlic and onion, stir constantly on medium high heat until they start to be aromatic, about 4 minutes.

Step 6: Add the marinated pork in, stir well for 2 minutes.

Step 7: Add the marinated snail meat, stir well for another minute.

Step 8: Strain the sliced eggplant. Put them all into the pot. At first, it will look like the pot is so full, like this. Give it some stir and then cover the pot with its lit. Keep the heat to medium high. Don’t worry, It won’t burn out. Raw eggplant is filled with water, by heating them up on high heat with lit covered, you are giving a chance for water to come out of the eggplant, reducing its volume visibly.

Here is my pot after 10 minutes. The volume decreases to sufficient level, and there is lots of stock water in the pot.

Step 9: Add the sliced tomatoes and fried tofu into the pot. Stir well but gently, you don’t want to smash the delicate soften eggplant in your pot right now. Now keep the lit away from the pot. Let it cooked on medium high heat and evaporate some of the stock water, for approximately 20 minutes.

Step 10: Now you can see that the water level in the pot has been reduced like in this picture, simply taste it and adjust the savor to your own taste. In my pot, I add 1 tsp. salt, 1tbsp. sugar, and 2 tbsp. fish sauce.

Step 11: Chop shiso leaves into very fine strip. Chop the scallion. Add them into the pot, and stir well. Take the pot off the heat.

Step 12: Scoop them onto a serving plate together with warm cooked rice.

This image has been resized. Click this bar to view the full image. The original image is sized %1%2.

Enjoy!

What about you? what is your favorite way to cook eggplant?

Rose,

[ChrisTaylor]

I'm keen to hear more about 'apple snails.'

My go-to eggplant recipe is one of the holy trinity of dishes I lived off as a student: you saute some sliced eggplant (the 'regular' kind, although I'm sure it'd work just as well with those long thin ones or even the golf ball-sized varieties) until it browns and softens. Add some garlic and chilli then hit the eggplant with some dried oregano. Give it another couple minutes then add some canned tomatoes--for ~500g eggplant, I'd use a 400g can. Cook until the sauce reduces and thickens--10-15 minutes. This is a pretty simple dish, so don't use shit tomatoes or sad eggplants. You can add some nice feta, if you like, although by all means experiment with the cheese ... or use whatever is floating around the fridge. Some parm-reg could work. I even used bocconcini once, purely because they were there.

[annachan]

One of the simplest recipes ever:

Cut eggplant in half, lenghtwise (I use Chinese/Japanese eggplants). Steam in steamer or rice cooker till soften. Drizzle with soy sauce and sesame oil.

[Marie-Ora]

My Grandfather was Italian, so eggplant for me is always 'Melanzane' - which consists of layered eggplant fritters (just slice them in rounds, dip in egg and flour and fry), layered with a good bolognese sauce (an essay on its own, but whatever works for you), and finally a layer of parmigiano and and breadcrumbs. I've never seen this particular recipe - my Grandmother learned it from his family in Calabria. I have to say it keeps really well, and leftover slices on toast are delicious.

[ambra]

May I ask what the "weird reaction with your stomach" entails?

[EvillyChic]

Hi,

Apple snail is a very common edible freshwater snail in Vietnam. We Vietnamese use them in cooking. For more info of it, here is: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ampullariidae.

Because it is a bit uncommon in other countries, I am afraid that if you are familiar with eating it and it will make your stomach uneasy because of food intolerance or you may have some allergy symtoms reaction to strange protein. That's the entail for my caution. But if you have tried apple snail before and are ok with that, then I would recommend using it in the recipe.

Hope my answer your question,

Rose,

[ChrisTaylor]

So lots of people (say, even in Vietnam) are allergic or at least 'intolerant' to it?

[patrickamory]

Check out the eggplant khoresh recipe I posted recently in the Dinner thread, from Najmieh Batmanglij.

Another, simpler, Persian preparation. This is one of the most delicious salads ever:

Use Japanese eggplant, or the smallest ones you can find (full-size American ones, or even medium ones, won't work). Don't peel, slice lengthwise into 1/2" strips. Brush with ghee and cook under the broiler or on the grill until browned but not burned. Meanwhile, fry chopped onions slowly in ghee until sweet and caramelized. Add eggplant to the onion pan, and mash it up, add a little bit of turmeric or saffron or both, some salt. Serve immediately with torn fresh mint leaves and a big cool spoonful of good sour plain yogurt on top (preferably Middle Eastern yogurt).

Edited May 6, 2012 by patrickamory (log)

[Jenni]

I think my favourite aubergine recipes are where the aubergine is roasted. I like to use the round light purple-ish baigan (aubergine) for roasting.

One such dish is chokha. I like mixed chokha made with potato, aubergine and tomato. All of these get roasted, ideally in a cow dung fire but you can do them directly over a flame or in the oven too. They should get nice a roasted on the outside and very soft. I usually make a few slits in each vegetable and stuff a garlic clove or two in. Then you let the veggies cool a bit, peel and mash them (best with your hands for a coarse texture) with chopped raw chillies, garlic, onion and fresh coriander. Also add salt and some raw mustard oil. Heaven. Ideally eat with litti (balls of dough stuffed with roasted and powdered chana that has been seasoned with various fresh and dry spices, that are roasted in a fire and dipped in ghee before eating) or sattu ka paratha (flat bread stuffed with seasoned roasted and powdered chana). Whilst the mixed version is my fav, you can do it with just aubergine too.

Baigan bharta is a very similar dish. I think it is best kept very simple. Roast the aubergine over a flame until the skin blackens and the inner is soft. Cool a little, peel and mash coarsely. Heat some mustard oil in a pan. Add some cumin seeds, followed by chopped onion. Stir and fry until lightly golden, then add some minced ginger, garlic and green chillies. Fry a bit more, then add a little chopped tomato, turmeric, chilli powder and salt. Stir and fry until the tomato softens, then add the aubergine and stir and fry a few minutes more. Add some chopped fresh coriander and serve. Best with roti and yoghurt.

Finally, a South Indian version - aubergine gotsu. For this the aubergine is roasted, peeled and mashed coarsely as before. Then you heat some oil in a pan, I prefer sesame oil for this. When hot add mustard seeds, urad dal and a little hing. When the dal reddens and the seeds pop, add some curry leaves, stir once, then add some chopped green chillies and onion. Stir and fry until the onion softens and gets a little golden, then add the aubergine, a pinch of turmeric, some tamarind paste and salt. Add a splash of water if necessary as the dish should be moist with a slight thick sauce, not dry. Simmer for a few minutes. Ideally, eat with pongal (a "porridge" or roasted moong dal cooked with rice and seasoned with lots of ghee, black pepper, cumin and hing. Fried cashews are a must, IMO).

[stuartlikesstrudel]

I had a delicious eggplant dish at a vietnamese restaurant that I can't find online... Sounds a little like annachan's recipe, in that it was halved eggplants (they just used the "regular" big ones) that had been somehow cooked to a beautiful silky/melting texture and simply flavoured with a sauce. I'm wondering if it might have been deep-fried, because the texture was so unctuous and I'm not sure it'd be achievable through steaming alone. But I should try that sometime, because perhaps it would be (and i'd be happy if it didn't need all that oil!).

[Jenni]

Also have just thought that fried aubergine is always divine....Dusted with a little chilli powder, turmeric and salt and fried in mustard oil for instance....

And dahi baigan is great - this is aubergine cooked in a yoghurt sauce.

And any stuffed aubergine dish - especially if the stuffing involves coconut, peanut and jaggery...

And simple baigan aloo....aubergines cooked with potato. A favourite comfort dish in my house.

Basically aubergines are amazing. I love the big round roasting kinds (in Allahabad, they are often lighter purple than the ones in this pic), the slender finger length ones (can't find a decent pic of this kind, but basically like this pic but thinner and shorter) and the little egg shaped ones (not a great pic but you get what I mean) the best. The big ones like this are ok but not as tasty, if you ask me.

Edited May 7, 2012 by Jenni (log)

[SobaAddict70]

Either ratatouille or a summer vegetable tian.

Those aubergine recipes sound amazing, Jenni. I'll be making those later this summer when eggplants become available at USGM.

(edited because the old way of inserting links doesn't seem to be working for me, and I had to play around with the new options. )

Edited May 7, 2012 by SobaAddict70 (log)

[Hassouni]

My favorite is actually a tie between imam bayıldı and tepsi beitinjan (my post on it here http://egullet.org/p1874599, and more info here, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tepsi_Baytinijan).

That being said a good, smoky mtabbal (baba ghannouj) is always great, too.

[heidih]

We have discussed this beautiful vegetable quite a bit in this topic as well as this one. I have been thinking about the eggplant in Munchymom's eG Foodblog and plan on trying it out. Here is her post about the eggplant "chips".

[johnmc]

Mine is Fish Fragrant Aubergines from Fuchsia Dunlop's Sichuan Cookery ( Land of Plenty )

[rod rock]

I don't have favorite, but this from first post looks beautiful!

[GlorifiedRice]

Gajinamul, hands down.

[munchymom]

I love eggplant in so many ways - fried, roasted, Parmigiana, baba ganoush, etc. But when I cook it at home I cook it the way my Turkish mother-in-law does - peel, cut into 1-inch slices, top with tomato, onion and a boatload of olive oil, and bake on low heat for 2 or 3 hours, then serve at room temperature.

[SylviaLovegren]

So many different and delicious sounding things to try. A recipe I saw a few years ago (Cooks? Greens? can't remember) I really like for summer. Cut eggplant into bitesize chunks and saute until soft in olive oil with onion and garlic, salt and pepper. Let cool, then dress with a few sprinkles of balsamic vinegar and torn basil leaves. A nice room temp salad/side dish. Good with bread and cheese for a hot summer day, also really nice with grilled chicken.

[andiesenji]

I am a huge fan of eggplant and have been reflecting on several reciepes since this topic was posted and simply can't decide on a single favorite.

They are so incredibly versatile that they can be a main ingredient in a vegetarian or vegan entree, the "baby" eggplants are especially versatile. Or they can be a side dish, canapé, mashed into a spread or ???

With the large "Black Beauty" types I like to slice them lengthwise (this is easier on a large mandolin and one of the reasons I got the de Buyer V-Pro with the long pusher). I degorge the slices (salting, resting and rinsing then drying with towels) but I also choose male eggplants as they are not as bitter and have fewer seeds, sometimes none.

I brown finely chopped (not ground) meat or poultry with chopped tomatoes that have been drained till nearly dry, onions, spices and herbs to taste, stir in some panko or other bread crumbs, spoon a portion onto one of the eggplant slices, roll up and pin with a toothpick and put into a baking dish.

Drizzle with olive oil, sprinkle with crushed olives and into a 325°F. oven for 45 minutes.

I do remove the toothpicks after plating - kitchen tweezers work great for this.

Edited May 11, 2012 by andiesenji (log)

[Paul Bacino]

I making Eggplant Lasagna with Ricotta cheese as I type, well not really.

I made home-made Buttermilk Ricotta now and its draining, for assembly tomorrow for Mothers Day Dinning .

Roast slices @ 425. I salt and put my eggplant slices ( 1/4 " ) in a colander to drain. Wash, pat dry, evoo then into the oven for 15-20 mins.

Filling:

Home-Made Ricotta

Basil

Nutmeg

Egg

Alternate with my Jarred Red Sauce , top with parm ! Bake 375 , till done ( about 35 mins ) finish with a bit of broiling if need.