JAPAN TODAY



 

Eggplants (or aubergines, if that's what you call them) are a versatile vegetable featured in the culinary traditions of many countries around the world.

In Japan, they're added to things like miso soup, grilled and seasoned in side dishes like 揚げびたし agebitashi, and featured in dishes adapted from other countries such as mapo tofu, curry and pasta.

However, there are two common problem with cooking eggplant in the frying pan: First, the vegetables easily lose their shape. Second, their flesh easily absorbs oil.

While the first one is unfortunate if you're trying to create a beautiful presentation, the second one has direct repercussions for those who are trying to cut calories and reduce lipids in their diet.

Eggplant is known to lower LDL cholesterol but its effects are negated if you're cooking with butter or cooking oils high in saturated fats.

Moreover, Japan has dozens of varieties of eggplants, some of them native to specific regions, each with slightly different tastes. If you want to truly appreciate the natural taste of your eggplant, the flavor of oil can get in the way.

 

A Japanese farmer's healthy lifehack

Japanese farmer しん Shin (@sinyasai), who also grows eggplants, posted a simple lifehack on his Twitter account that can reduce the amount of oil absorbed by your eggplants when you fry them.
It's so easy.

All you need to do is soak the eggplants in salted water for 10 minutes. Don't worry about your sodium intake. All you need is 1% salt water for it to work. This allows the eggplant to absorb less oil when heated.

 

This simple technique took many netizens by surprise, as the tweet elicited comments such as: "What the heck! It's so easy!" and "I didn't know that! I'll give it a try next time!"

If you want to keep more oil away from your eggplants, why don't you give it a try?