The secret to cooking super creamy eggplant (and do you really need to salt it?) (2024)

FAQs

The secret to cooking super creamy eggplant (and do you really need to salt it?)? ›

Salting versus brining

Not necessarily; it depends on what you're looking for in the finished dish. Though salting works when you want the eggplant to be creamy and tender — such as with parmigiana — in those cases where you want the eggplant to retain its shape and have a slightly firmer texture — such as ratatouille — you can skip it.

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.

Modern Eggplants Are Less Bitter — No Salt Required

Let the pieces sit for about an hour while the salt apparently draws any bitterness that might be in the eggplant out. Then you're told to rinse the eggplant and pat it dry to remove the excess salt before proceeding with the recipe.

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.

Salting: Salting removes excess liquid and some of the bitterness. Today's eggplants are bred for mildness, though, so it's not as important as it used to be (if you are frying eggplant, salting will ensure a creamy texture and rich flavor). This method works for eggplant slices, cubes, or planks.

Many recipes call for salting and rinsing eggplant before cooking it to draw out its bitterness. Brining can be used instead and has the added advantage of helping the eggplant keep its shape when it's cooked, whether your recipe calls for baking, frying, or grilling.

While the skin of a small young eggplant is edible, the skin becomes bitter on larger or older eggplants and should be peeled. When in doubt, the answer to, "Do you peel eggplant before cooking?" is yes, peel it. Use a vegetable peeler or paring knife to remove the skin.

I eschew the typical salting step and simply stir-fry the eggplant — Chinese eggplant are more tender and slender than the dark-purple-skinned Italian variety — until lightly charred on the outside and cooked to a firm custard consistency inside (trust me, it gets just as soft as if you had salted it).

CHILLING: Arrange eggplant slices on a plate and put it in the freezer for about 4 hours. When the slices thaw, press out a lot of the water with the palm of your hand, releasing most of the bitterness. The eggplant will fry as if it had been salted, though the freezing will make the flesh fall apart a bit more.

Why do you soak eggplant in vinegar? ›

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.

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.

2. Aubergines are quite spongey to the touch - salting shrinks all the air pockets inside the flesh and means that when you go to grill or roast, it'll absorb a lot less oil. The less oil absorbed, the less greasy the slice. You'll get silky smooth slices every time.

The only time you need to salt it is if you know it's a little old or if you're going to fry or saute it. Old eggplants tend to have more seeds, which makes them taste bitter. Salting will help draw out some -- but not all -- of the bitter juices. Long, thin Japanese eggplants are rarely bitter.

Putting salt on the eggplant triggers osmosis, which draws out excess moisture and the bitterness along with it.