At the Farmer’s Market, we picked up some Japanese Eggplant, primarily because it looked different and I’d never tried cooking with it before. Maybe it’s in all the supermarkets, I’ve just never noticed. 🙂
The “farmer” that sold it to us – no, he was not Japanese – told us that his favorite way to enjoy Japanese Eggplant was to slice it in half then brush with olive oil adding whatever spices you enjoy. Then he grilled it, over “medium” heat until the eggplant started to brown and added parmesan cheese.
Ours didn’t turn out perfect, primarily because we didn’t have the grill quite right – I think it has to bake a bit longer over a bit lower heat in order to cook more of the moisture out. We grilled ours for 20 minutes, over a bit too high of heat. Also, I didn’t have real parmesan on board, so we just sprinkled them with powdered parmesan.
But the result was pretty tasty. We had them as an appetizer for sunset and both decided that if we find Japanese Eggplant again, we’ll refine the technique. It reminded me of having too many plantains in the Western Caribbean, slicing them diagonally, but thin, brushing with olive oil and grilling. Served with a squeeze of fresh lime juice and some fresh ground sea salt, plantains became one of our favorite appetizers!
Anyone else use Japanese Eggplant? Have a favorite way to cook it? Please leave a comment and share! Cheers! Jan
