How to wet eggplant bitterness? Step-by-step recipe with a photo. How to choose eggplant without bitterness? Alternative ways to get rid of bitterness. Video recipe.
Eggplants are a popular vegetable that is boiled, fried, baked, stewed … They are ingredients for many dishes, salads and snacks. And everything in them is good, and the taste, and the consistency, and the nutritional value, and the content of vitamins … The only disadvantage is that they may contain harmful solanine, which gives unpleasant bitterness. So that the finished dish does not taste bitter, this bitterness must be removed. For this, the main assistant is used - salt. It draws bitter substances from the fruit. However, this is not the only way to get rid of bitterness. Below we will consider alternative options.
Eggplant without bitterness: how to choose
In order not to remove bitterness from eggplants, you can buy fresh and young fruits. Such bitterness is simply not there. You can define them by the following criteria:
- The stalk should not be brittle, dry and bend when pressed. You should not buy a vegetable without a stalk, because it can be specially trimmed in unripe eggplants.
- Sepals adjacent to the vegetable should be fresh and green.
- The ideal skin is even, smooth, and squeaks when you slide it with your finger. It should not have brown spots, wrinkles and slipperiness.
- It is advisable to give the vegetable a small size, it is better to buy two eggplants than one bitter overgrown giant.
- Soft fruits, which means, are overripe or began to rot.
- Weigh two identical eggplants. If one is heavier than the other, this means that the inside of the larger fruit contains more seeds, which also add bitterness to the vegetable.
Alternative ways to get rid of bitterness
If you purchased bitter fruits or the eggplant crop was harvested late, then use one of the methods below.
Dry ambassador
Slice the eggplants and sprinkle them with salt. After 20-25 minutes, droplets of moisture will begin to appear on the surface. Then wipe the eggplants with a paper towel or rinse with running water and pat dry. If whole eggplants are needed for the dish, soak them in salt for 1, 5 hours.
Peeling
As a rule, the bitter taste does not contain the pulp, but the rind. Therefore, sometimes it is enough just to peel the eggplants and get rid of the bitter aftertaste. However, this can not be done for all recipes, because the fruit will lose its structure and may turn into a puree during cooking. This method is only good for cooking eggplant caviar. In other cases, ordinary salt will help.
Freezing
The method is the longest and is not suitable for all eggplant dishes. Eggplants, from which the bitterness has been removed by freezing, falls apart and turns into porridge as a result. This method is suitable for preparing eggplant caviar. Cut the eggplants, place them on a plate and place them in the freezer for 4 hours, and then squeeze them out of moisture.
Soaking in milk
If you do not mind using milk to remove bitterness from eggplant, then put the sliced pieces of fruit in it for half an hour and set the oppression, otherwise they will float to the surface and will not be immersed in liquid. Then wring them out using paper towels.
Removing seeds
If the eggplants are large and ripe, they usually have large seeds that add bitterness. Looking closer, you can see that the seeds resemble pepper seeds. You can try to remove them by making a longitudinal cut on the fruit and removing the seeds with a spoon. Then rinse the eggplant slices under running water.
- Caloric content per 100 g - 25 kcal.
- Servings - Any Amount
- Cooking time - 1 hour 15 minutes
Ingredients:
Eggplant - any quantity
Step-by-step preparation of removing bitterness from eggplant in a wet way, recipe with photo:
1. Wash the eggplants under running water and cut off the tails with sepals.
2. Cut the eggplants into 3-4 pieces, or in another way that suggests a recipe for their further use.
3. Place the eggplants in a deep saucepan.
4. Pour cold water over vegetables. They will immediately float to the surface.
5. Add salt to vegetables and stir to dissolve. Salt proportions: 1 tsp. for 1 liter of water.
6. Put pressure on the eggplant so that it sinks to the bottom and is completely covered with water. Place a plate on them and place a mug of water on it. Soak them for one hour.
7. Remove the oppression, drain the salt water, rinse the eggplants and dry with a paper towel. The fruits are ready for further use in any dish. In a similar way, you can remove bitterness from whole vegetables, but only increase the holding time in brine to 2, 5-3 hours.
See also a video recipe on how to remove bitterness from eggplant.
