Bell peppers, bitter melon and eggplant unpopular? Nine cooking tricks to make them delicious

"The most awful bento side dish in history," "the dish elementary schoolers hate most," "the big boss of green vegetables in kids' minds," "top three most disgusting green vegetables," "the three green vegetables that should be banned from the table by law" - no matter how you word the poll question, whenever people vote for "most disliked green vegetables," the innocent bell pepper, bitter melon and eggplant always make the list!

Worse still, bell peppers, bitter melon and eggplant have also been voted "vegetables you only start liking when you're older," making it awkward even for those who love them to try to clear their names. But all three vegetables help fight cancer and control blood sugar. Bitter melon and bell peppers are both rich in vitamin C, and the vitamin B in eggplant skin helps with vitamin C metabolism. How could three such healthy vegetables be branded with so many bad names?

Come on, follow News & Market and learn to cook. No matter if it looks gross, tastes bitter or smells bad, these nine tricks will help everyone "turn enemies into star dishes"!

Cover it, hide it, chop it up - great ways to hide eggplant

Eggplant actually doesn't have much of a distinct flavor. Most people dislike it purely because it always cooks up black and mushy, looking like it's wearing a sign that says "I don't taste good." In fact, eggplant is one of the few purple vegetables, and all its nutritional essence is in that purple coat, including dietary fiber that promotes digestive movement, anthocyanins that slow aging, and abundant vitamin B. Friends who love looking pretty all know that vitamin C is important for whitening skin, but vitamin C metabolism needs vitamin B to work, so eggplant can also be seen as an important beauty treasure!

Since the main reason eggplant is so unpopular is its appearance after cooking, just find a way to hide it! Below we introduce Japanese, Italian and Swedish dishes - a big gathering of flavors from three countries. See what other tricks eggplant can pull!

Denjang eggplant - salty and savory, great with rice or drinks

Denjang eggplant, commonly seen in Japanese izakayas, is basically eggplant with miso sauce as a drinking snack. Taking a 260-gram round eggplant as an example, here's how to make it:

1. In a small pot, add the miso sauce ingredients (200g miso, 60g sugar, 60g mirin, 120g sake), heat over medium-low heat while stirring, and once reduced to about 2/3 and thickened, it's done.
2. Pour 3 tablespoons of oil into a frying pan and add sliced eggplant. Heat over medium heat, flip once one side is colored (if the eggplant is too thick, cover with a lid and steam briefly over low heat). Once the eggplant softens, plate it and pour the miso sauce over it to serve.

Eggplant hidden in meatballs - finger-licking delicious

Kids love Italian lasagna, little knowing that this is the best place for eggplant to hide. Cut round eggplant into thin slices and pan-fry until fragrant. Cook the lasagna noodles and prepare tomato meat sauce and cheese, then layer noodles, meat sauce, eggplant and cheese, finishing with a sprinkling of Parmesan cheese on top, and send it into the oven.

Lasagna paired with Swedish meatballs - this dinner is too lavish! Steam the eggplant, scrape out the flesh and chop it, mix with ground meat, chopped cilantro and sweet potato starch, season, then coat with breadcrumbs and pan-fry in a hot pan. Serve with tomato sauce for a finger-licking treat!