ISO help/info on white eggplant

[TiggerHomeMom]

Has anyone ever grown or purchased white eggplant. I have one that is 6-8" long and about 2" wide. There are 5 others growing (still tiny) and I'm kind of at a loss. I was told that they do not get as large as the purple eggplants one buys in the grocery store. I don't know when to pick it or how to cook it. We decided we would try planting some "new" items in the garden this year.

 

[silentmeow]

Sounds beautiful. The size could be related to anything from good soil to the correct amount of sunshine! Congratulations. I grow them every year for myself and my Mother in Law. Usually I only get two or three perplant but this year I planted the failry tale variety, purple and white striped and I have 28 on one plant. I'm so excited! Your white one should be sweeter than the store bought purple ones so you shouldn't have to sweat it before cooking. I just slice them (1inch) dust them with flour and cornstarch and fry them in a bit of evoo with butter. A knife will slide in and out easily when they are done. Great cooked in a tomato type sauce and sprinkled with montz. cheese. Do a Google search, it's a versatile and wonderful veggie. Good luck.

 

[TiggerHomeMom]

that sounds good. we ended up slicing them really thin ... like 1/4" and battering them with egg and italian bread crumbs, fried them up in some really hot oil so they would be done quickly and they came out really tasty. A definate diffenence in taste compared to the purple ones. I will have to try the flour/cornstarch thing next. that is how i fry my green tomatoes, with a touch of sugar in the batter.

 

[silentmeow]

Tigger, My son suggested cornmeal as a coating. I tried it and it is nice and crunchy but a bit sweet. I think it would be great with the big purple ones but didn't do much for the baby ones, couldn't taste the eggplant! Now a question about the green tomatoes..........I'd like to make them but my past efforts have yielded nothing but bitter tasting tomatoes! Is there a secret to green tomatoes or is it a taste one must cultivate?

 

[BreezyCooking]

I try to grow some white eggplant (along with the long oriental type) every year. I find them very flavorful & less seedy than the traditional large Italian types. Regardless of variety, none of the white types I've grown have ever gotten as large as the dark purple Italian types.

If you know the specific variety you planted, you should be able to find a description by doing an internet search (or even just searching "white eggplant") to get an idea of harvest size. They definitely vary quite a bit. The only thing I know for sure is that once the fruits start to develop a yellowish tinge, they're past their prime - sort of like when a large Italian purple loses it's shine.

 

[obiwan9962]

funny thing is white eggplant is the original form of eggplant
and it was much smaller

in thailand they still cultivate eggplants close to the progenitor
very small and whitish/greenish
**** hard and takes along time to cook
i love the ones that are slightly larger but those are pretty seedy and a tad bitter but thais love em
i also love the japanese/chinese long eggplants

not touched an aubergine (standard italian eggplant) since i stopped working in italian restaurants

as for your situation, check your seed package
i know they have seeds for white eggplants the size of standard aubergines

 

[TiggerHomeMom]

Tigger, My son suggested cornmeal as a coating. I tried it and it is nice and crunchy but a bit sweet. I think it would be great with the big purple ones but didn't do much for the baby ones, couldn't taste the eggplant! Now a question about the green tomatoes..........I'd like to make them but my past efforts have yielded nothing but bitter tasting tomatoes! Is there a secret to green tomatoes or is it a taste one must cultivate?

Thanks silentmeow, the cornmeal thing is how we are going to try them next time.
Now, for the fried green tomato question ... this is the way I was taught how to make them by my southern husbands granny.
4+/- large green tomaoes
Slice 1/4" thick. Salt and set in collander to pull excess water out. About 15-30 minutes. Rinse in cool water and lay out on paper towels to dry before proceeding. (I use these paper towels under the wire rack to catch any excess oil drips after the tomaoes are fried ... just my little part to recycle)
1/4 C corn starch
1-2 C flour
mix or sift these two really well. dredge the tomato slices in flour mixture.
Buttermilk
after you dredge and tap excess flour mixture off, run the tomato slices thru the buttermilk. Allow to drip a little before placing in Cornmeal mixture.
1 C cornmeal
3 TBSP sugar
Black pepper (or) cayanne to taste
Mix these well. Run buttermilked slices in the cornmeal mixture. I use a heavy bottom fry pan. Heat vegetable oil to 375*, (I only use enough to go halfway up the tomato.) Cook about 3 minutes, carefully flip and cook about 2 minutes. Lay out on wire rack to drain and salt. Serve hot! If I am making a lot of them, I will place them in the oven set to 200*.

I hope this helps. I was raised in New York and in Colombia S.A. so I had not even heard of this until I met my husband 15 years ago. I told him he was crazy and that there was no way anyone in their right mind would ever eat, let alone cook a green tomato. Now I cannot wait until our garden tomatoes get to good size, because they are so delicious. Oh, my picky 5 year old even likes them.

 

[obiwan9962]

I hope this helps. I was raised in New York and in Colombia S.A. so I had not even heard of this until I met my husband 15 years ago. I told him he was crazy and that there was no way anyone in their right mind would ever eat, let alone cook a green tomato. Now I cannot wait until our garden tomatoes get to good size, because they are so delicious. Oh, my picky 5 year old even likes them.

your recipe sounds great similiar to the one i learned

yea i had a hard time wrapping my mind around that
even harder one when i worked in the thai restaurant and the salads were made of GREEN papaya and mangos

did not compute in my mind at the time

 

[TiggerHomeMom]

your recipe sounds great similiar to the one i learned

yea i had a hard time wrapping my mind around that
even harder one when i worked in the thai restaurant and the salads were made of GREEN papaya and mangos

did not compute in my mind at the time

Yes so true, when one is used to a certain food being prepared a specific way and only that way, every other way seems "wrong". This is why I love to try new recipies. One never knows what will be good.

 

[obiwan9962]

Yes so true, when one is used to a certain food being prepared a specific way and only that way, every other way seems "wrong". This is why I love to try new recipies. One never knows what will be good.

exactly
and now i am craving green papaya salad
lol

 

[silentmeow]

Tigger, thanks for the tomato recipe. I'm always looking for new ways to prepare old foods! Cooking is such a creative outlet. Both my children enjoy cooking and we have fun sharing ideas and methods.