Selecting an Eggplant

You are going to make a recipe that asks for eggplant, but you have never bought one before. Once you found them you don't know which one is the freshest or best.

When looking at them you want to make sure that the skin is smooth and free from cracks or indents that might indicate bruising.

Try to select smaller ones as the larger the plant, the larger the seeds.

You don't necessarily need to peel the eggplant. If they are young and small the skin should still be thin and tender. An older eggplant may have a thicker skin that you might want to peel, or it might be too chewy once it is cooked.

Eggplants do absorb what they are cooked in. Be cautious with the amount of oil that you do use, and do not overload the pan so that it cools down too much as the eggplant will absorb the oil instead of cooking in it.