How to properly remove eggplants. Do I need to peel eggplants?

Culinary delights Each modern housewife is unique. Recipes from healthy food. And vegetables most often become their main ingredients. Along with the usual fruits of zucchini, cabbage, and carrots from the garden, eggplant has taken its rightful place on our table. After all, from it you can invent many unusual, tasty, nutritious, healthy dishes. Do I need to peel eggplants? This question interests many cooks, especially beginners.

Process pre-treatment vegetables are also of no small importance. To this day, cooks, especially beginners, are faced with the question: is it necessary to peel eggplants?

There is an opinion that in many vegetables all the benefits lie in the peel. From a dietary point of view dietary fiber, which eggplant contains, normalize functions gastrointestinal tract. And the bitterness present in the vegetable is not in the peel, but in the pulp. Therefore, before cooking, it is recommended to soak it in water with a little salt.

If the fruit is overripe, it is better to remove the peel, but representatives of the young harvest do not need to be peeled. Therefore, there is no set rule whether you need to peel the eggplant or not. Usually this point is taken into account when choosing a dish that you want to cook.

For example, without the peel, eggplant may lose its shape when it gets into the pan, so it is important to decide for yourself whether you need to peel the eggplant before frying. Still, in order to get whole pieces when frying, you should not remove the shell from the eggplant. If the fruit is young, then it is enough to cut it into slices and, after breading, place it in hot oil in a frying pan. It is better to soak overripe chopped slices for half an hour in salt water.

If you plan to stew the blue ones, it is better to clean them before cooking. In the case of preparing caviar, puree, ajapsandal, cleaning is mandatory.

Rules for cleaning eggplants

Just like any other vegetable from the garden, eggplant requires careful processing running water. How to peel the blue ones? Using a knife with a sharp blade, remove the tip at the base of the stem. This area of the fruit is the hardest and removing it will only improve the consistency of the dish.

How to remove the peel, if, of course, the recipe requires it, the following everyday tips will help:

Holding the fruit firmly with your hand on a cutting board, using a vegetable peeler or paring knife in your other hand, remove longitudinal strips of peel from top to bottom. Such alternating movements must be performed until the eggplant is completely freed from its shell.
If you do not peel off some of the longitudinal stripes on the pulp, you can get a striped eggplant. Distinctive feature This approach serves not only originality, but also to prevent the pulp from falling apart during cooking.

In a word, getting rid of the eggplant peel can turn into not only mechanical, but also creative process. It all depends on your ingenuity. Well, whether to clean it or not is everyone’s choice.

Do I need to peel eggplants before cooking? How to peel eggplants so that the taste exceeds all expectations! Do you need to peel eggplants? How should you peel eggplants? What can you cook from them? All these questions haunt debutants in the field of cooking. Do I need to peel the eggplants or leave them with the skin on? Surprisingly, each person must answer this question independently. It is not necessary to peel eggplants at all. This is done in order to reduce the bitterness in the dish, since the eggplant peel contains a lot of spicy and bitter substances. In addition, there is another way to remove bitterness from the product - simply soak the chopped pieces in a salty solution. The first option is much easier than the second and takes less time. This is why most people simply peel the skin off the vegetable instead of soaking it. Sometimes for cooking you have to reduce bitterness to a minimum, and for this you need to cut out the seeds of the eggplant if it is overripe. Fortunately, these are rare cases: if the eggplant is fresh, then its seeds do not have too pronounced spicy taste, so they can be left inside. If you are not used to overly spicy and bitter dishes, it is recommended that you peel the eggplants before cooking or cut them into discs and fry with the skin on, but remove the peel from the already cooked eggplant before serving. prepared eggplants. If your goal is a tender stew or caviar, then peel the vegetables before cooking. Instructions on “how to peel eggplants” There is nothing complicated about peeling eggplants. They must first be washed, and then deal with the vegetable, as with regular potatoes. If your eggplants are young enough, the peel will be very easy to remove. You just need to follow the plan, step by step: Dry the wet, thoroughly washed eggplant with a towel. Remove the top of the vegetable where the stem is located. If there are any rotten places on the fruit, cut them out first, and then start cleaning the entire eggplant. Place a knife at the top and slowly move from one end to the other, cutting off a thin layer of skin and leaving as much pulp as possible. Using this method, peel the entire eggplant. That's all, this method is ideal for making stew or soup. How to peel eggplants if they have been lying on the shelf Peeling young eggplants is quite easy, but the situation is different with old fruits. They are less easy to clean. Firstly, the skin fits much tighter, and it itself is harder than that of young vegetables. Secondly, its taste is more pronounced, and in order to get rid of it, the skin must be removed with the top layer of pulp. To cope with this difficult task, it is enough to use a little trick: Before cleaning, you need to soak old eggplants in a lightly salted solution. It is prepared in accordance with the proportion: 1 tablespoon of salt to 1 tablespoon of water. If you don’t want to prepare the solution, you can simply put the eggplants in a saucepan, bring to a boil and immediately transfer them to cold water. Then you can easily peel off the peel or leave it on. These 2 methods will help get rid of excess bitterness in old eggplants. How to peel eggplants to make an original dish If you are tired of trivial dishes and want to try something new and interesting, then you can try different ways cleaning and cutting eggplants. Any eggplant can be cut in at least four ways: disks, strips, cubes and just halves. In some cases, for slicing you will need an eggplant without peel, but in another case it will not be necessary to peel it. In addition, eggplants can be used in three options: completely cleaned, not cleaned and striped. The last option is suitable for those who like their food to be not only tasty, but also beautiful, because striped eggplant in a dish will look very original thanks to this color contrast. A simple recipe for a dish with eggplant Eggplant - practically universal ingredient. It can also be used as independent dish, and as an additive to others: stew, caviar, soup, etc. However, those who have never cooked anything with eggplants are recommended to try a single dish made from them. We will need 3 eggplants, oil and spices to taste. Peel the eggplants and cut them into 5mm thick discs. Heat the frying pan, pour oil. Next, simply place the eggplants on it and fry on each side for 3-5 minutes. Then remove the remaining oil and sprinkle spices on top. The dish is ready with just 1 ingredient!

Eggplants are rarely eaten raw, but they are very tasty and healthy if cooked correctly. Their beneficial properties provide many benefits to our health. This is a good meat substitute. They are ideal for preparing a side dish. Find out what you can cook with them. How to cook eggplants quickly and tasty: how to fry, how to bake, how to cook them in microwave oven. Check out my favorite recipes.

Before cooking, you should choose them correctly.

How to choose the right eggplant?

I'm sure that when you think of this vegetable, you imagine pear-shaped or cylindrical fruits with shiny purple skin. You are right, this is the most common type. But eggplants, depending on the variety, can be of different shapes and sizes - from a few centimeters to 30 centimeters, even more. They can be round, oval, teardrop-shaped or pear-shaped, similar to long cucumbers. The color can also be different - white, green, reddish-orange, light lilac, purple, striped, striated...

Eggplants are now available in stores all year round, but the peak season is at the end of summer. Look for fruits on the shelves with bright, glossy, elastic skin. Weigh the eggplant in your hand; it should be heavy for its size. Press the skin with your finger - there should be no dent left. Young, not very large fruits are usually less bitter and more tasty than large or old ones. These are quite perishable vegetables, so you can store eggplants in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.

Do I need to peel eggplants before cooking?

You may or may not clean it. The skin of small young eggplants is tender and edible; such fruits do not need to be peeled. But larger or more ripe ones are better to peel. Since the peeled pulp changes color and darkens, peel the vegetables immediately before cooking. Cut off top part fruit with a stalk, cut it into round slices, cubes or lengthwise into long slices, as indicated in the recipe.

Do you want to cook eggplants deliciously, but the fruits are bitter?

Is it possible to get rid of bitterness in eggplants and how?

Yes, you can. Some varieties are bitter, but keep in mind that many new varieties do not have bitterness. You may have heard that salt removes bitterness from fruits and excess liquid.

This is true. This is how you remove bitterness: before cooking, place the slices on a paper towel and sprinkle them on all sides with salt. Salt will not only remove bitterness. Sliced vegetables will give juice - this will help them not absorb excess oil when frying. Let the sliced eggplants sit for 20 minutes. Then rinse them thoroughly to remove excess salt and dry. Use as you wish.

How to grill eggplants?

It's very simple, fast and tasty. This vegetable is designed for grilling due to its dense pulp, which, like a sponge, absorbs marinade, vegetable or butter, and smoky aroma. They are also quick to prepare as they do not require pre-cooking.

Before grilling, brush the slices with a brush dipped in olive oil, vegetable oil, or melted butter. This will add aroma, taste, and will prevent the pieces from sticking to the grill grate.

It is convenient and quick to grill large fruits, cut crosswise into round slices, or small ones, cut lengthwise. Place the buttered and seasoned slices on the grill grate. Turn them over from time to time.

How to fry eggplants in a frying pan?

There's nothing complicated. Coat the eggplant slices on all sides with olive oil, vegetable oil or melted butter. butter. This is convenient to do with a pastry brush. Sprinkle ground pepper or any spices you like. You can add salt if you haven't salted them before to remove the bitterness. Dip the slices into the mixture breadcrumbs and grated hard cheese(1 part cheese to 3 parts breadcrumbs). Place in a hot frying pan with a little oil. Fry the slices until golden brown. Very tasty!

How to cook baked eggplants in the oven?

I assure you, this is not difficult either. Before cooking, preheat the oven to 220-250°C. While the oven is preheating, place the peeled, prepared slices in a bowl containing a mixture of 3-4 garlic cloves pressed through a garlic press, 1 tablespoon olive or vegetable oil, 1/2 teaspoon salt, 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper. Dip or coat the pieces thoroughly with this mixture. Place them on a baking sheet. Bake the eggplants for 20 minutes, turning them occasionally.

Can eggplants be cooked in the microwave, how to do it?

Of course you can! Cut the peeled eggplants into cubes, slices, and halves. Place them in a shallow plate, pour a little water on the bottom - two tablespoons is enough. Set your oven to the highest setting for 5-8 minutes. Cook the eggplants until soft, stirring or turning them occasionally. You can cook them in the microwave without peeling them - it is then easily separated from the pulp, which can be used to make casseroles, vegetable pates, etc.

I told you how to cook eggplants quickly and tasty in different ways. You can immediately put them on the table or use them for preparing salads, side dishes, vegetable or meat stew, rolls or casseroles.

Kira Stoletova

Eggplant is a tasty but specific vegetable. It makes unusual and aromatic dishes, if it is cooked correctly. Thus, most housewives recommend peeling eggplants before cooking to add piquancy to the dish and remove bitterness.

How to choose the right eggplants

In order not to spoil the taste of the prepared dish, suitable vegetable choose in advance. Before cooking, it is determined what kind of heat treatment the fruits will undergo:

cooking;
frying;
canning.

If you need a peeled vegetable for cooking, choose only young fruits. They do not contain solanine, which is poisonous in high concentrations, and do not taste bitter after cooking. Eggplants should not be eaten raw: it is harmful to health.

When choosing a fruit, pay attention to the structure of the upper shell, the softness of the vegetable and the color. For eating, it is better to use eggplants:

with a strong structure;
with elastic and smooth skin;
no stains;
dark purple hue;
no defects.

Soft and wrinkled fruits indicate a large amount of solanine, so they should not be chosen. Large ones are also not used: this is a sign of overripeness, which gives a bitter aftertaste. Adult specimens have hard skin and hard seeds, which spoils dishes.

Do you need to peel eggplants?

In the top layer vegetable crop contains dietary fiber that is essential to the human body for full work. Nutritionists say that the peel:

useful;
nutritious;
low-calorie;
improves metabolism.

Peeling eggplants is a pre-cooking process. It helps rid food of the bitter taste. If the final preparation requires preserving the shape of the vegetable, there is no need to peel the crop: the peel protects it from deformation.

To get whole pieces after heat treatment, you should not peel the eggplants. When choosing a young harvest, it is cut into pieces or slices and fried. Overripe specimen for 15 minutes. immersed in saline solution.

Vegetables are peeled, taking into account the choice of dish. If you plan to stew or cook caviar, the eggplants are processed and the top layer is removed. Clean small pieces that will be used to prepare stews or fried in breading.

The top layer of the fruit has a tart, spicy taste, so famous chefs recommend peeling the eggplants or sprinkling them with salt and leaving for 30 minutes. If dark seeds are found during cutting, they should be cut off with a small amount of pulp.

If eggplants were grown independently, without the use of harmful substances, cleaning is not necessary. It is better to peel store-bought eggplants, as they may contain nitrates and pesticides.

Rules for cleaning eggplants

Before cleaning, vegetables are washed under running water.

The top layer contains microbes that enter the dish during cooking. To peel the skin from the fruit, follow several rules:

Use a knife to cut off the base of the stem. Use only a sharp, well-sharpened tool so as not to damage the shape of the vegetable in advance.
The vegetable is held firmly in the hand, placed in a container or on a board. Carefully remove the top layer in strips using a knife or vegetable peeler.
Peel the fruit until it is completely free of the top layer.

When peeling, do not point the peeler towards you to avoid injury. The vegetable is tilted away from itself. It is cleaned at an angle, from top to bottom. This cleaning of the fruit allows it to be used in the preparation of salads, stews, for canning, stewing or frying.

Incomplete cleaning

You can also clean the culture without completely leaving it without skin. Some chefs suggest peeling the fruit partially - in strips. This will allow the vegetables to keep their shape when heat treatment. This cleaning method will also give the dish a beautiful and unusual appearance.

The culinary delights of every modern housewife are unique. Healthy food recipes deserve the most attention. And vegetables most often become their main ingredients. Along with the usual fruits of zucchini, cabbage, and carrots from the garden, they have taken their rightful place on our table. After all, you can invent many unusual, tasty, nutritious, healthy dishes from it. Do I need to peel eggplants? This question interests many cooks, especially beginners.

The process of pre-processing the vegetable is also of no small importance. To this day, cooks, especially beginners, are faced with the question: is it necessary to peel eggplants?

There is an opinion that in many vegetables all the benefits lie in the peel. From a dietary point of view, the dietary fiber contained in eggplant normalizes the functions of the gastrointestinal tract. And the bitterness present in the vegetable is not in the peel, but in the pulp. Therefore, before cooking, it is recommended to soak it in water with a little salt.

If you plan to stew the blue ones, it is better to clean them before cooking. In the case of preparing caviar, puree, ajapsandal, cleaning is mandatory.

Rules for cleaning eggplants

Just like any other vegetable from the garden, eggplant requires careful treatment with running water. How to peel the blue ones? Using a knife with a sharp blade, remove the tip at the base of the stem. This area of the fruit is the hardest and removing it will only improve the consistency of the dish.

How to remove the peel, if, of course, the recipe requires it, the following everyday tips will help:

Holding the fruit firmly with your hand on a cutting board, using a vegetable peeler or paring knife in your other hand, remove longitudinal strips of peel from top to bottom. Such alternating movements must be performed until the eggplant is completely freed from its shell.
If you do not peel off some of the longitudinal stripes on the pulp, you can get a striped eggplant. A distinctive feature of this approach is not only its originality, but also the prevention of the pulp from falling apart during cooking.

In a word, getting rid of the eggplant peel can turn into not only a mechanical, but also a creative process. It all depends on your ingenuity. Well, whether to clean it or not is everyone’s choice.

Comments

For every novice cook, cooking is like playing the lottery: you can never say with certainty that the dish will turn out tasty, because there are products whose taste can be ruined simply by choosing the wrong method of pre-processing.

This is why many novice cooks are stunned by the most ordinary eggplant.

Do you need to peel eggplants? How should you peel eggplants?

What can you cook from them? All these questions haunt debutants in the field of cooking.

Do I need to peel the eggplants or leave them with the skin on?

Surprisingly, each person must answer this question independently. It is not necessary to peel eggplants at all. This is done in order to reduce the bitterness in the dish, since the eggplant peel contains a lot of spicy and bitter substances. In addition, there is another way to remove bitterness from the product - simply soak the chopped pieces in a salty solution.

The first option is much easier than the second and takes less time. This is why most people simply peel the skin off the vegetable instead of soaking it. Sometimes for cooking you have to reduce bitterness to a minimum, and for this you need to cut out the seeds of the eggplant if it is overripe. Fortunately, these are rare cases: if the eggplant is fresh, then its seeds do not have a very pronounced spicy taste, so they can be left inside.

If you are not used to overly spicy and bitter dishes, you are advised to peel the eggplants before cooking or cut them into discs and fry with the skins on, but remove the peels from the cooked eggplants before serving. If your goal is a tender stew or caviar, then peel the vegetables before cooking.

Instructions on how to peel eggplants

There is nothing difficult about peeling eggplants. They must first be washed, and then deal with the vegetable, as with ordinary potatoes. If your eggplants are young enough, the peel will be very easy to remove. You just need to follow the plan, step by step:

Dry the wet, thoroughly washed eggplant with a towel.

Remove the top of the vegetable where the stem is located.

If there are any rotten places on the fruit, cut them out first, and then start cleaning the entire eggplant.

Place a knife at the top and slowly move from one end to the other, cutting off a thin layer of skin and leaving as much pulp as possible. Using this method, peel the entire eggplant.

That's all, this method is ideal for making stew or soup.

How to peel eggplants if they are left on the shelf

Peeling young eggplants is quite easy, but the situation is different with old fruits. They are less easy to clean. Firstly, the skin fits much tighter, and it itself is harder than that of young vegetables. Secondly, its taste is more pronounced, and in order to get rid of it, the skin must be removed with the top layer of pulp.

To cope with this difficult task, you just need to use a little trick: before cleaning, you need to soak old eggplants in a slightly salted solution. It is prepared in accordance with the proportion: 1 tablespoon of salt to 1 tablespoon of water. If you don’t want to prepare the solution, you can simply put the eggplants in a saucepan, bring to a boil and immediately transfer them to cold water. Then you can easily peel off the peel or leave it on. These 2 methods will help get rid of excess bitterness in old eggplants.

How to peel eggplants to create an original dish

If you are tired of trivial dishes and want to try something new and interesting, then you can try different ways of peeling and cutting eggplants. Any eggplant can be cut in at least four ways: disks, strips, cubes and just halves. In some cases, for slicing you will need an eggplant without peel, but in another case it will not be necessary to peel it. In addition, eggplants can be used in three versions: completely peeled, not peeled, and striped. The last option is suitable for those who like their food to be not only tasty, but also beautiful, because striped eggplant in a dish will look very original thanks to this color contrast.

A simple eggplant recipe

Eggplant is an almost universal ingredient. It can be used both as an independent dish and as an additive to others: stew, caviar, soup, etc. However, those who have never cooked anything with eggplants are recommended to try a single dish made from them.

We will need 3 eggplants, oil and spices to taste. Peel the eggplants and cut them into 5mm thick discs. Heat the frying pan, pour oil. Next, simply place the eggplants on it and fry on each side for 3-5 minutes. Then remove the remaining oil and sprinkle spices on top. The dish is ready with just 1 ingredient!

Many novice housewives, or even some of those who already have some culinary experience, are faced with the question of the technology for pre-processing some vegetables. For example, should eggplants be peeled? Does it depend on the choice of dish? How does the taste of food change? Are eggplants cleaned if they are subsequently soaked in brine? This article provides advice on these issues, which will allow you to obtain dishes with pleasant piquant undertones.

Do you need to peel eggplants? Highlights

The technology for processing blueberries sometimes involves removing the dark skin from the fruit or removing the seeds inside. Why is this being done? The fact is that the top layer of eggplant is most saturated with the tart, spicy taste characteristic of this vegetable. Therefore, in order to somewhat soften the excessive piquancy, either peel the fruits, or soak the blue ones in sliced form for some time in a saline solution. Many housewives, in order to save time, choose the first processing method. As for the seeds, their removal may be necessary when the fruit is overripe. Often, when cutting them into pieces, a slightly burst middle with dark seeds is found inside. In this case, you can use a sharp knife to try to lightly peel off the small grains or cut them off with a small amount of pulp.

Do you always need to peel eggplants?

The choice of processing method for vegetables often depends on the taste of the dish you want to achieve. Do you like spicy and spicy combinations? Then there is no need to remove the peel. It is its presence that will give the desired flavor shades. But if your goal is to get tender, then it is better to use only meaty pieces without seeds and peel.

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Do I need to peel small eggplants at the initial stage of ripeness?

The exception is young fruits. They always have inconspicuous light seeds and soft skin without bitterness. Therefore, they are usually cut immediately, without peeling off the dark shell. In any case, the taste of the dish is pleasant and delicate.

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Preparing fried blueberries

Do I need to peel eggplants before placing them in a frying pan in hot oil? Let's take a closer look at the stages of preparing this most common blueberry dish. To obtain even and whole pieces after frying, you still should not remove the outer shell from the fruit. Cut young eggplants into thin slices and fry them, pre-breading them in flour, egg or cheese. Soak old fruits (slices, mugs, pieces) for some time in a cold, weak saline solution (per 1 liter - 1 incomplete tablespoon). After 30 min. remove them and let them drain. A slightly different processing option is possible. Sprinkle the plates with salt and place pressure on top of them. After 15-20 minutes. Rinse the eggplants with water and fry using the chosen method.

Eggplant has long become a familiar vegetable for us, although not entirely traditional for Russian cuisine. Many housewives have favorite recipes for eggplant dishes: caviar, stews, salads, fried, stewed or baked. But the question often arises: is it necessary to peel eggplants before cooking, and if so, how to do it correctly?

Why peel eggplants?

As you know, this vegetable is not only tasty, but also incredibly beneficial for health, due to the content of substances that improve performance. cardiovascular system: zinc, manganese and iron.

Scientists say that in many fruits the majority useful substances concentrated precisely in the skin and the thin layer of pulp underneath it. Does this mean that eggplant should be eaten unpeeled? The confusing thing is that the skin may be tough and bitter, which will negatively affect taste qualities. We suggest you resolve this issue yourself using our advice.

Eggplant peel contains health benefits

The peel contains dietary fiber, which is often necessary for our body to function well in the gastrointestinal tract. From a dietary point of view, the peel is healthy and nutritious.
Overripe, old eggplants must be cleaned. Their skin is thick and rough, it has most likely already lost its beneficial properties, and it is difficult to cook it to the desired softness. Young eggplants do not need to be peeled.
Most of the bitterness is not concentrated in the peel, but in the pulp. That's why experienced housewives soak sliced eggplants in salt water, which is then drained.
Whether you need to peel the eggplant or not also depends on the dish you want to prepare. For example, if you need to fry or grill slices, the peel will help maintain the shape of the eggplant and prevent it from falling apart. Finely chopped cubes for stews or breaded frying will not fall apart without the skin.

And finally. If you grow eggplants in your own garden and do not use pesticides, nitrates or substances that accelerate fruit growth, then cleaning is not necessary. But it’s better to peel store-bought eggplants or those bought at the market: how do you know in what conditions they were grown?

Cleaning correctly

If you decide to peel the eggplant, you will need:

an ordinary kitchen knife;
a special knife for peeling vegetables or a vegetable peeler;
paper kitchen towels.

So let's get started:

Rinse the eggplant thoroughly to remove all dirt. There may be harmful bacteria on the surface, which will be transferred to the pulp during the cleaning process. After washing, dry the vegetables with a paper towel.

Rinse the eggplants thoroughly

Using a sharp kitchen knife, trim the tip of the eggplant just below the base of the stem. This part is usually hard and tough; it is undesirable to use it in cooking.
The stem of the eggplant has been removed, making it much easier to peel off the skin. You can also cut off the bottom tip by about a centimeter.

Cut off the top and bottom ends of the eggplant

Next, remove the skin in strips; to do this, place the eggplant “on the butt,” take a vegetable peeler, press the blade to the top and smoothly move it down along the entire length.
During this process, do not point the peeler or tilt the vegetable towards you. Move the eggplant slightly away from you or to the side.
If you don't have a vegetable peeler, use a small knife. Also carefully move the knife from top to bottom, trying to cut off only a thin layer of skin without touching the pulp.

Carefully cut off the peel with a vegetable peeler or knife

In this way, peel the entire eggplant without leaving any traces of peel on it.

Please note: the eggplant should be peeled only in the longitudinal direction, from top to bottom. If you cut the peel across the vegetable, you risk cutting yourself, and the process will be long and inconvenient.

This cleaning method is perfect for further use of eggplants in stews, for frying, stewing, preparing salads and canning.

Striped eggplants

This simple option will not only prevent the flesh from falling apart during cooking, but will also help you get fun pieces that you can grill, stew, or pickle your eggplant for the winter.

Eggplant, peeled in strips

It is enough to use the previous method, but do not peel off the skin completely, but leave strips 2-2.5 cm wide. This way, you will get uniform dark-light areas. After peeling the eggplant, cut into bars or long longitudinal pieces. During cooking, the pulp will retain not only its shape, but also its color and aroma.

‘Striped’ eggplant, sliced

Cleaning after cooking

Most often, eggplants are cleaned fresh before preparing the recipe. But you can do it differently. Bake the eggplant in the oven or boil it in boiling water, after which the peel will easily separate.

26 Irina 10/26/2015 Eggplant. Health benefits and harms

Dear readers, many of us probably love eggplants very much. Beautiful purple-black fruits shine in the sun and are pleasing to the eye. What are the benefits and harms of eggplants for our health? Let's figure it out.

Every housewife probably has a quick and tasty eggplant dish on her mind. Fried, baked, stuffed, pickled - they are very tasty and enjoyable. But are they really that useful? And what are the benefits and harms of eggplants, are there any contraindications? This will be discussed in the article.

You can often hear the question: “Eggplant is a berry, a vegetable, but someone suddenly thinks about a fruit...?” I’ll say right away that eggplant is a berry from the nightshade family (the same family as potatoes and tomatoes). Eggplant fruits have different shapes. They can be pear-shaped, round or cylindrical. The fruit can reach 70 cm in length and weighs about 0.3-1 kg. Fully ripened eggplants become too rough and no longer tasty, so for cooking it is better to use slightly unripe fruits. And eggplants ripen from August to October.

For some reason, it is generally accepted that eggplants originated in Europe, in particular in Italy. Indeed, Italians love them very much and often use them in their cuisine. But in fact, the birthplace of eggplant is the countries Southeast Asia– India and Burma. There you can find the plant in the wild. According to researchers, eggplant entered the culture of India hundreds of years before the beginning of our era. And already at the beginning of our era, culture penetrated into Japan, China, and North Africa.

Interestingly, the inhabitants of Ancient Rome and Greece called eggplants “mad apples” - it was believed that consuming them would lead to loss of sanity. Apparently, because of this stereotype, the culture did not spread in Europe for a long time. Eggplants began to be grown there only in the Middle Ages. But not for food, but as an ornamental plant with original shiny and smooth fruits of purple, yellow or white flowers. When South America was discovered, the Europeans saw how the Indians prepared eggplant (there they called it “badijan”), and they also began to grow it as a food product.

There are also different data on the time and route of eggplants getting into Russia. Approximately, the vegetable appeared in Russia in the 17th-18th centuries, according to some sources, through the Caucasus from Iran, according to others - from Central Asia, according to others - through Bulgaria from Asia Minor. However, now our beloved “little blue ones” are actively grown in open ground in many regions of the country, but they especially love it in the Lower Volga region and the North Caucasus.

Eggplant. Photo

Eggplant. Health benefits and harms

Eggplant dishes are not only very tasty, but also healthy.
A generous range of minerals, vitamins, pectin, fiber and other substances makes eggplant very useful product, helping with various ailments, and simply maintaining good health.

Eggplant. Composition and Useful Properties

The berries contain:

minerals (sodium, magnesium, iron, calcium, potassium, sulfur, chromium, aluminum, zinc, cobalt, iodine, molybdenum, manganese);
proteins, fats, carbohydrates;
natural sugars;
tannins;
vitamins of groups B, A, C, P;
organic acids;
fiber;
pectins.

Useful properties of eggplant:

Low-calorie product.
They have a lot of potassium. And potassium helps us fight swelling. Eggplants have diuretic properties.
Prevents the development of oncology.
Helps overcome nicotine addiction.
Contain large number coarse fibers.
Lowers blood cholesterol levels.

What are the benefits of eggplants for the human body?

Now we will talk in more detail about the benefits of eggplants for the human body.

The benefits of eggplants for the heart and blood vessels

Nutritionists advise eating eggplants for people prone to cardiovascular diseases. Thanks to the minerals, potassium and sodium salts found in eggplants, cardiac activity is normalized.
Fiber, pectin and other so-called ballast substances that make up eggplants are almost not digested by the body and are poorly absorbed, but at the same time they do an excellent job of removing excess cholesterol. According to experts, in this regard, fruits are often much more effective than some medications.

Eggplant juice is very effective, which not only helps fight cholesterol, but also relaxes blood vessels, and this, in turn, improves blood flow. Eggplants serve as a good prevention of coronary heart disease and atherosclerosis.

The benefits of eggplant for blood formation

Copper and manganese contained in eggplants promote hematopoiesis. In this regard, experts recommend including purple berries in the diet of pregnant women, as well as for anemia in children. Thanks to the sufficient quantity folic acid as part of eggplant, the entire process of formation of blood cells - leukocytes, erythrocytes, platelets - is normalized.

The benefits of eggplants for the gastrointestinal tract

Eggplants can improve intestinal motility and stimulate the production of gastric juice. The fruits are good for the functioning of the liver and kidneys, and can prevent the occurrence of cholelithiasis.

The benefits of eggplants for strengthening the immune system and nervous system

Eggplant juice contains huge amount substances that have bactericidal properties and can suppress the activity of harmful microbes.

Berry strengthens immune system the body, increases its resistance to harmful environmental factors.

The flavonoids contained in eggplants, especially nasunin, bring great benefits to the body. The substance is a strong antioxidant and can protect against damage to cell membranes. In particular, nasunin protects brain cells from the destructive effects of free radicals. Therefore, eggplant can rightfully be called brain food.

Anti-cancer property of eggplant

The phenolic compounds contained in eggplants - oncoprotectors (chlorogenic acid and 13 other phenolic acids) - give the fruit anti-cancer and anti-mutagenic properties. Black eggplants contain the most phenols.

Benefits of eggplant for smokers

Interestingly, the vegetable contains nicotinic acid, so consuming it in food reduces the desire to smoke a cigarette. So, if you want to quit this bad habit, cook and eat eggplant dishes more often!

Eggplant calories

100 grams of eggplant contains only 24 kcal. Therefore, anyone who wants to lose weight and keep their body in perfect shape can safely include purple berries in their diet. And this is also the benefit of eggplant for everyone who watches their figure. The most important thing is to cook them correctly so as not to overuse oil when frying.

Who will benefit from eggplants?

With a few exceptions, eggplants are useful for almost everyone, but they are most often recommended:

patients with diabetes mellitus;
people who are obese or overweight;
elderly people;
cancer patients;
for cardiac dysfunction, coronary heart disease;
with atherosclerosis;
for problem skin;
in reasonable quantities - for gout, but only between periods of exacerbation;
with anemia;
for the prevention of cholelithiasis.
pregnant women.

How to choose eggplants?

It is better to choose young fruits, without wrinkles, light or brown spots. The vegetable should not be limp and soft to the touch. Choose smooth, dry, elastic fruits with a green stalk.

It is advisable that the seeds are not fully ripe. Dark seeds and voids inside are a sign of overripe fruits. You should pay attention to the thickness of the skin of the fruit. The thicker it is, the larger the size of the seeds, and, therefore, the more harmful solanine.

The healthiest eggplants are the shiny, narrow ones. The darker the color, the healthier the fruit.

How to store eggplants?

Eggplants should be stored in a dark place. cool place in the house. You can pack them, but not hermetically. It's best to wrap them in paper. At a temperature of 8-10 degrees and a humidity of 90%, eggplants can last for about a month. Each fruit should be stored separately.

You can also put the eggplants in containers and put them in the refrigerator. When I later prepare dishes from frozen eggplants, I never defrost them, I immediately put them on a heated frying pan. Otherwise, I don’t like the dish itself – they turn out to be porridge.

How to freeze eggplants?

Eggplants can be frozen quite successfully, as can zucchini. I usually either blanch them before freezing, or soak them, or freeze them fried.

What I like best is this method of freezing eggplants: cut into slices or cubes, sprinkle with salt, leave for half an hour, then balance in boiling water for 2 minutes, then put in cold water. It is important to cool them sharply. Place on a towel. Dry and place in airtight containers. Place in the freezer. You can store it this way for up to six months or more.

Drying eggplants

And one more affordable way preserving eggplants - drying. How to dry eggplants? You can dry the vegetable whole, in halves, cubes, slices, strips - depending on the desired further consumption. You can dry them like this: naturally, and in the oven or electric dryer (at a temperature of 50-60 degrees for about 4-5 hours).

Dried vegetables are best stored in bags made of natural materials in a dry place. Before cooking, soak the dried pieces in warm water for about half an hour, and then cook like fresh ones.

How to remove bitterness from eggplants?

It is advisable to soak eggplants before eating them. This is done in order to remove bitterness. Eggplants should be soaked in salted water. Immerse and leave it like that for some time (2-3 hours or more). If there is no such time, then you can cut the eggplant, salt it strongly, leave it for 15-20 minutes to half an hour and then rinse thoroughly with running water, dry it and continue cooking.

Should I cut off the skin of an eggplant?

In principle, you can cook eggplant with the peel. You just need to know that with further frying (if we do not cut off the eggplant peel) we will need more oil. Therefore, for those who are watching their figure, it is better to cut off the eggplant peel after all.

In what form are eggplants healthier?

It is best to stew or bake eggplants or grill them. Fried eggplants, due to the large amount of oil they absorb, are not so beneficial for our health.

Eggplants during pregnancy. The benefits and harms of eggplants during pregnancy

Can pregnant women eat eggplant? Eggplants are low in calories. This is the first plus and benefit for the health of a pregnant woman and her unborn baby. They help cope with swelling, which also often occurs in pregnant women. Eggplants also help cope with gastrointestinal problems and are good for the heart.

It is best to bake them, cook them vegetable stew with them, adding a little water, simmer. Fried eggplant It is better to exclude it from the diet of a pregnant woman. And look carefully at the contraindications (given in the article below). If you have them, eliminate eggplants for a while and definitely consult your doctor. The doctor always knows exactly your nuances of the course of pregnancy, will suggest a diet and give advice on nutrition during pregnancy.

Eggplants during breastfeeding

Is it possible to eat eggplant while breastfeeding?
If you have no contraindications, then you can administer eggplant to nursing mothers. We saw the benefits of eggplant. But they need to be introduced into the diet slowly, gradually and always watch the baby’s reaction (carefully monitor the baby’s stool, see if there are any rashes). If such problems appear, it is necessary to exclude eggplants from the diet of a nursing mother. It is best to introduce them into the diet when the baby is 3 months old, and not immediately after birth.

Is it possible to eat eggplants raw?

Eggplant. Harm. Contraindications

Eggplants are contraindicated:

For gastrointestinal disorders, diseases of the duodenum, acute gastritis and ulcers. Fiber, which fills eggplants in large quantities, requires active work of the stomach and intestines, which can provoke an exacerbation of diseases;
Arthrosis;
Diseases of the pancreas;
With insulin therapy;
During periods of gout attack;
For kidney diseases. The oxolates contained in eggplants can aggravate kidney disease.

It is important to note that overripe eggplant fruits contain large amounts of solanine, a substance that is poisonous to humans. Poisoning can lead to convulsions, colic, dizziness, and diarrhea. Therefore, it is better to eat young fruits, as well as white eggplants, which do not contain solanine.