How to cook eggplants easily and quickly

We can find a few varieties of aubergines on the market: purple, striped, white, long, etc. In general, we can cook the same with all of them, although the biggest difference is that long, Chinese and Japanese eggplants tend to be less bitter.

Eggplants are very versatile in the kitchen.. They are very light for their size because their interior is spongy, full of air. Choose those that are heavy for their size, that have shiny, smooth skin, without wrinkles, that are not too hard (they would be green, more acidic, a little more tasteless). If they are soft they are too ripe, they will have large seeds inside and the taste will be more bitter.

Here is a video with an original idea for preparing aubergines and remember that if you want to discover more delicious vegetable recipes, you have available the ebook 100 healthy lunches and dinners from Cuerpomente.

to keep them well store them in the least cold part of the fridge (for example in the vegetable drawer). At less than 10ºC they can turn brown and soft quickly, just like if it is very hot (above 22ºC), so it is best to store them for a short time, consume them as soon as possible.

4 ways to cook eggplant

The color of the skin of the black and purple eggplant is due to its anthocyanin content, pigments that are sensitive to the pH of the cooking medium and to the temperature. The more acid it is, the more reddish. If you want to preserve the color of eggplants pink or purple, you can leave them soaking with water, salt and a pinch of vinegar.

With cooking, especially baking, dehydration occurs and the skin can become browner. To avoid this you can make the aubergines at a lower temperature and protecting the skin with liquids (for example a broth). It’s just an aesthetic issue though. they will be just as good.

1.Stuffed eggplants

To stuff aubergines it is better to use large and oval pieces, that we can cut in half lengthwise and put a good amount of our filling. We can use stir-fried and sautéed vegetables, cereals (brown rice, millet, buckwheat, etc.), legumes (lentils, beans, chickpeas), or a bit of everything.

For example we can stuff some aubergines with what we have left over of a lentil curry, or with textured soy stew, or with roasted chickpeas with spices and a béchamel made with vegetable milk.

As the filling is usually already made, first we will cut the aubergines lengthwise, prick them with a fork, sprinkle salt and let them rest for half an hour. Then we wash and roast in the oven at 200ºC until they are tender.

We take them out, with a spoon and a knife we ​​remove the central meat of the aubergine (to put the filling) and mix this meat with our filling.

Fill the aubergines and put them back in the oven until they are golden brown and the filling slightly au gratin.

2. Sautéed eggplants

For me the best way to sauté eggplants is to steam them first.

Cut them into cubes and put them in a bowl with water and salt for 30 minutes. Drain them, wash them very well and steam them for 6-7 minutes, until they are tender (but not undone). Then add them to the pan to sauté them. They will be very tender, juicy and golden, without absorbing too much oil.

3. Roasted eggplants

Sometimes what I do is roast a lot of vegetables at once to have for the whole week. In the case of I put the aubergines whole, just pricking them a little with a fork, and baked.

With these roasted aubergines, whose meat will be very creamy, we can make vegetable pâtés such as babaganoush, pasta sauces and complements to any dish.

With the meat of the roasted aubergines I also make vegetable burgers (you just have to mix it with the rest of the ingredients), toppings for pizzas, quiches, etc.

4. Fried eggplants

I do not recommend frying eggplantsThey tend to absorb a lot of oil due to their internal structure, which is almost all air. The best thing we can do for fried aubergines is first to soak them in water and salt (half an hour, drain, wash) and then bread or batter to avoid getting too much oil inside the eggplant.

For example when we do a vegetable tempura we can add the aubergine, cutting it into strips or sticks, leaving it to soak in the salt and later passing it through the tempura and into the pan with the hot oil (do not add them until the oil is very hot). After let them rest on absorbent kitchen paper.

How to reduce the bitterness of eggplants

The most bitter eggplants are purple or blackespecially if they are very ripe, because contain more phenolic acids with a bitter and strong taste. Some of these compounds are removed or neutralized by cooking, but we can remove a little more by osmosis.

Cut the aubergines into cubes, slices or in half lengthwise (depending on how you are going to prepare them), sprinkle them with salt and let them rest for 30 minutes. After that time you will see that the eggplant has “sweated”. Drain them, wash them under running water and dry them with kitchen paper.

The grains of salt that we have sprinkled release water and some of the bitter-tasting compounds of the eggplant cells, resulting in those droplets that we will see above. These drops continue to remove liquid from the interior in a slow process, so it is advisable to leave them for half an hour.

With this method we are left with more whole aubergines, which they don’t fall apart so easily. It is especially recommended if you want to make them grilled, grilled or in a stew with more ingredients.

We can also do it by leaving the pieces soaked in water and salt, an equally effective method but more recommendable if what we want is for the eggplant to absorb water and be even more tender. Eggplants like this are more meaty, tender, soft and juicy, but it is also easier for them to fall apart.