What to Do If Eggplant Soaks Up Too Much Oil? A Few Tricks for Delicious Eggplant Without a Spoonful of Oil
Does a bowl of eggplant need half a pot of oil?
Then you are wasting far too much!
A few little tricks to make eggplant use less oil
Not greasy, and still a delicious eggplant feast!
How to cook eggplant with less oil
Salting Method
Cut the eggplant into slices, strips or chunks, put them in a bowl, sprinkle with a little salt and rub it in so the salt fully penetrates the eggplant, then wait 5 minutes and the eggplant will release water and soften.
Squeeze out the water the eggplant has released, then put it in the pan. You only need one spoonful of oil, and it will stir-fry fragrant without being greasy, delicious and healthy. Just remember not to add salt again while stir-frying~
Dry-Frying Method
Cut the eggplant into whatever shape you need and put it straight into the pan to dry-fry. Be sure to use medium heat so the eggplant does not burn. Once the eggplant has softened, add oil and stir-fry as usual.
Blanching Method
After cutting the eggplant, blanch it briefly in boiling water to soften it. When blanched, the eggplant is already half cooked, so stir-frying it afterward needs much less oil, and the cooking time is shortened too.
Steaming Method
Cut the eggplant diagonally into thick slices, but do not cut all the way through. Bring water to a boil in a pan, use chopsticks as a rack, place the eggplant on top and steam for about 5 minutes; the eggplant becomes soft and cooked without soaking up oil.
Soaking Method
First mix one spoonful of starch with a bowl of water to make a fairly thin starch water, soak the cut eggplant in the starch water for 3 minutes, then turn on the heat, add oil and stir-fry the eggplant over high heat. Once it turns golden, immediately switch to medium heat. This way it is crisp outside and tender inside, and saves a huge amount of oil!
How to choose eggplant?
First, Look
Look at the skin.
A ripe, fresh eggplant is deep purple, evenly colored, with a natural waxy layer on the skin that looks bright and glossy. The waxy layer also protects the eggplant from pathogens, so if you plan to store the eggplant, do not wash it in water.
If there are obvious white streaks on the skin, some areas turning white, some areas shriveling, and the overall color is not bright enough, then it is a rather old eggplant.
Look at the calyx.
A fresh, tender eggplant has a ring of white-green band around the calyx. If the band is very obvious, it means the eggplant is very fresh and tastes tender.
Second, Squeeze
A fresh eggplant is plump and springy, with thin skin and loose flesh. It feels neither soft nor hard when squeezed, and if you press it firmly it bounces right back without leaving a dent.
An old eggplant has lost moisture, its flesh has hardened, and its skin is thick and tight.
Creative Eggplant Recipes
Flavorful Roasted Eggplant
There is nothing more pleasant than eating barbecue in this season. Make a roasted eggplant at home! You can do it in the microwave, mouthwatering, nutritious and delicious!
Ingredients:
Eggplant, shiitake mushrooms, minced meat, onion, garlic, salt, sesame oil
Cut the eggplant in half and scoop out the flesh from the middle, then cut it into small cubes; a small fruit knife makes this easier to handle.
In the pan, first stir-fry the garlic and onion, then add the diced eggplant, diced shiitake mushrooms, minced meat, chili and other seasonings, and stir-fry until half cooked.
Then scoop it out and stuff it into the hollowed-out eggplant shells, drip on a few drops of sesame oil, put it in the microwave for 10 minutes, and the fragrant roasted eggplant is ready!
The side ingredients in the eggplant can be freely combined: pork, chicken, peas, carrots, whatever you like, with all kinds of flavors!
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