Ought to You Salt Eggplant Earlier than Cooking?

Salting greens earlier than cooking them is an effective way to attract out water, making for a greater texture and extra condensed taste. This step is commonly performed with greens with excessive moisture content material, like zucchini, cucumber, or eggplant. Nevertheless, salting greens is time-consuming and never all the time mandatory, relying on the dish you’re making. We spoke to Holly Snyder, a meals innovator and culinary govt, concerning the deserves of salting eggplant and the way it may impression your completed dish.

Why We Salt Eggplant

Within the culinary world, eggplant’s bitter qualities have lengthy been the topic of debate, says Snyder. “The frequent perception was that salting eggplant was important to ‘extract’ its bitterness. The reality is, salt would not truly remove bitterness; it merely masks it.” Additionally, whereas salting eggplant has traditionally been thought to take away bitterness, Snyder says most trendy eggplant varieties have been cultivated particularly to scale back the quantity of bitterness, which makes salting eggplant for that cause irrelevant. Nevertheless, there’s nonetheless an excellent cause to salt eggplant earlier than cooking.

The Advantages of Salting Eggplant

Salting eggplant earlier than cooking it helps draw out moisture, which Snyder says is especially helpful in dishes the place texture is vital. Layered dishes with sauces (like eggplant parmesan) or fried eggplant can actually profit from salting, simply make sure to pat the flesh dry to take away any floor moisture earlier than cooking. 

Whereas it doesn’t take away pure bitterness, salting eggplant can nonetheless have a constructive impression on taste. “The method of osmosis helps switch salt into the cells of the eggplant, seasoning it extra deeply, very like how one would season a bit of meat and let it relaxation,” says Snyder. 

When to Salt Eggplant—and When Not To

Snyder says that, finally, the choice to salt eggplant earlier than cooking largely will depend on the dish at hand and the person’s private preferences.

• When to salt: For those who’re frying, searing, or cooking it to realize a crisp texture, salting eggplant beforehand is a step you shouldn’t skip. 
• When to not salt: For those who’re cooking eggplant low and sluggish, there isn’t a lot cause to salt your eggplant earlier than cooking it. The flesh will break down slowly both means, so salting it upfront is actually a step you may skip.

Which Kinds of Eggplant Require Salting?

Along with contemplating how you will cook dinner the eggplant, pay shut consideration to the number of eggplant you’re utilizing earlier than deciding whether or not or to not salt it, says Snyder. “For cooks preferring to attenuate pre-salting, or dislike bitter notes altogether, she recommends choosing Japanese eggplant and fairytale varieties, that are sweeter than the frequent globe eggplant.