Green Eggplant?

I went to an asian market a week ago and came across some Thai eggplant. They were a variegated green in color, small, round and fresh looking so I grabbed a bag (not knowing what I was going to do with them).

Turns out there are many different kinds of eggplant, and for the most part they have a similar taste and behavior with cooking but the shape and size give them different textures in different types of dishes. Eggplant is a staple in mediterranean dishes and popular in Indian, Italian, Asian and American dishes too. There are many varieties such as white eggplant (they look like large eggs), stripped purple eggplants,  Chinese eggplants (long, skinny, light purple), American eggplant (large, pear shaped, dark purple), Japanese eggplants (long skinny, dark purple) and Thai eggplants (small, round and light green).

Eggplant is considered a night shade vegetable and part of the same family that tomatoes, potatoes and peppers are in; the Solanaceae family. From a nutritional perspective, night shade vegetables are known to be linked with inflammation as they contain alkaloids. The type of alkaloid found in the Solanaceae family are steroid alkaloids which are associated with inflammation in joints and muscles and can cause gastric irritation. The steroid alkaloids are found in about 250 different species of plants. Alkaloids are produced by exposure to light, potatoes contain them in highest concentrations when sprouted or if turning green (which can be avoided by storing them in dark area). With tomatoes, you have less contact with the alkaloid part as the highest concentrations are in the vine and leaves themselves but do avoid eating green tomatoes because of this. In peppers, the alkaloid content is highest in the capsaicin (contained in the white rib of the pepper). In eggplant, the alkaloids are in the seeds which causes the bitter taste, in thai eggplant they recommend you remove the seeds to reduce this. The skin has no real reflection of alkaloid content when we look at the different varietals. The anthocyanins are the reason for the skin color and are responsible for the fantastic anti-oxidant properties of the vegetable.

The great things about eggplant aside from antioxidants are the fiber, b vitamins (including folate), manganese and potassium. They are great to cook with because of their texture and body. They can provide a nice accent to all sorts of dishes and vegetarian diets. The hard thing about cooking eggplant is that it will absorb oil very easily. So it is recommended to salt the eggplant about 1-1.5 hours before cooking (rinsing before cooking) to draw out some of the moisture and preventing it from too getting mushy.

So what did I do with my thai eggplant? The cool thing about it for me was it's shape. They are small eggplants so they have more firmness and texture. I really wanted to see how they tasted on their own before using them in a recipe so I cut them up into quarters after removing the vine tops and washing them thoroughly. I heated up a cast iron skillet with some olive oil and threw them in. I salted and peppered them well and turned them over frequently careful not to brown them too much. Once the flesh started to get a little soft (about 10 minutes) I threw some fresh garlic and thai basil into the pan. I sautéed them a little longer (another 8-10 minutes) and then garnished with some more fresh basil and drizzle of olive oil. I served them as they are along side some yummy meatloaf I made however in the future I think they would be a great addition to a green thai curry dish.

In Health! Bon Appetit!

-K Raylinsky ND