Grilled Eggplant Recipe with Sumac, Capers, and Mint - Feed Me Phoebe (2024)

FAQs

What is the secret to cooking eggplant? ›

Eggplants are known to absorb a lot of fat while cooking. A useful tip to prevent sogginess and greasiness is to salt sliced or diced eggplant and let it sit for an hour. This helps to draw out moisture. Next, rinse and drain any liquid from the sliced eggplant, then pat dry before cooking.

Most likely grilling, stir-fry, and roasting. The best ways to cook in general to retain nutrients are : Boiling, Steaming, Broiling, Grilling, Sautéing. Grilling is my preference since I love most any vegetable grilled !

Soak eggplant slices or cubes in milk for about 30 minutes before cooking. The milk not only tempers the bitterness, but it actually makes for eggplant that is extra creamy, since the vegetable acts like a sponge and soaks up a good amount of milk in its flesh.

Depending on the recipe, you might want to slice and salt globe eggplant slices before cooking them in order to draw out some of the water and keep them from turning to mush. In On Food and Cooking, Harold McGee writes that because eggplants are filled with tiny air pockets, they function like sponges.

Eggplants have a spongy texture that absorbs fats and flavors perfectly, but only when slightly dehydrated with the help of a couple of sprinkles of salt, explains Norton. "Add a pinch of salt to both sides of eggplant slices and let them sit on the counter for up to an hour.

You mentioned that once they turned out tough and chewy: then they were not cooked fully through. Vegetables are not like meat, which turn rubbery when overcooked. They turn soft rather. Watch out for the opposite as well: Eggplants when cooked for a long time may turn mushy.

If you are worried that the eggplant might be bitter, slice or cube it, then salt it liberally and allow it to drain for an hour or so before cooking. Putting salt on the eggplant triggers osmosis, which draws out excess moisture and the bitterness along with it.

In most cases, that's just not necessary. After an extended series of experiments, I found you only need to salt eggplant if you're going to be frying it, and even then only sometimes. If you're cooking it in some other way — roasting, grilling, steaming — salting has no effect.

Why do you soak eggplant in water and vinegar? Soaking eggplant in water and vinegar helps remove some of the vegetable's natural bitterness. This step also helps preserve some of the skin's color so it stays a vibrant purple even after cooking.

Conventional wisdom has you salt the slices to draw bitter liquid out of the eggplant. Once the slices have sat for about a hour, you're suppose to rinse them under cool water to remove any excess salt and then proceed with your recipe.

Does Epsom salt help eggplant? ›

As the plants grow, they need an even moisture supply. They do well with a drip irrigation system, but many watering methods work. When the first blossoms appear, spray the plants with a seaweed extract with one teaspoon of Epsom salts dissolved per gallon. The solution improves fruit set.

Older recipes call for salting eggplant to draw out the bitter juices, but today's eggplants are less bitter (unless very large), so salting is largely unnecessary. It will, however, help the spongy flesh absorb less oil and crisp up like a dream.

You mentioned that once they turned out tough and chewy: then they were not cooked fully through. Vegetables are not like meat, which turn rubbery when overcooked. They turn soft rather. Watch out for the opposite as well: Eggplants when cooked for a long time may turn mushy.