Hi, I'm a pretty adept cook, but aubergine seems to have me beat! How on earth do you stop it soaking up oodles and oodles of oil? I had an aubergine salad in Yo Sushi the other day - thinly sliced and fried with a dressing, but I can't seem to cook the aubergine without it soaking up all the oil. Same deal with trying to cook a Brinjal Bhaji.
Any ideas?
b0redom
I think if you are slicing them thinly so make them crispy you could try folding a kitchen towel around the slices to absorb any excess liquid so that you fry them dry.
Cook them for a *long* time - they soak up oil to start, then as they cook more they start to release the oil again. Just be patient with them
Oil is goood! Oil is niiiiiiiiiice! Oil is fats, which be toooooo helpful as fuel for your ironman!
One can never stop saying Thank You
Well, whilst that is true, I'm currently laid up with bronchitis, so drinking pints of lard is probably not currently the best thing for me!Originally Posted by fuddam
Oil is goood! Oil is niiiiiiiiiice! Oil is fats, which be toooooo helpful as fuel for your ironman!
Bronchitis is usually a stress-related illness. Bring on the Vit B complex, fresh veggies and fruit! And plenty of sleeeeeeeeeeeeeep!
One can never stop saying Thank You
And that's why forums should never be used for medical advice...
I've never tried frying aubergine, but with the likes of tempura etc it tends to go soggy if the oil isn't hot enough you may need a different oil if you can't get it hot enough.
Is there something wrong with the vowel keys on your keyboarddddddddddddddd?Bronchitis is usually a stress-related illness. Bring on the Vit B complex, fresh veggies and fruit! And plenty of sleeeeeeeeeeeeeep!
Fat chance of sleep with a 6 year old, a 3 year old and a 1 year old!
I quite like them grilled after they've been dipped both sides in olive oil. Works with courgettes too.
Strange for me to be getting back on-topic, but what oils specifically can go hotter than others? I stir fry a lot of veg and have the soggy aubergine/courgette issues.
Ground nut oil has a really high smoking point, BUT it's REALLY bad for you.
Butter - lowest
Grapeseed oil - low
Olive oil - low
Rapeseed - medium high
Sunflower - high
Nut oils - highest
Castrol gtx - you're doing it wrong
I mostly fry in rapeseed, use olive for sauce creation, and butter for soft ingredients like mushrooms.
virtuo (06-02-2014)
you no likey-likey? You make me SO sad....
One can never stop saying Thank You
For deep frying, like others, I tend to use rapeseed oil (getting quite expensive, due probably to biodiesel demand), groundnut (peanut) oil, or sunflower oil, but there are different versions of the latter and you want the one with the high smoke point.
You could deep fry with olive oil, but generally, for frying, you want one taste-neutral. Olive oil is more of an art, and even the difference between Spanish and Italian can be marked. I usually use Italian, but sometimes Spanish, which I find has a little less ..... bite. But it's down to taste. I don't use olive oil for deep frying.
As for technique, a few things. First, oil needs to be (IMHO) fairly hot, around 180-200.
Second, you want to KEEP it fairly hot. Don't dump a whole load of anything in all at once, ve it chios or avocado. If you do, the food lowers the oil temp, and then the oil starts to be absorbed. So, add a bit at a time. You can see if the temp drops because you don't get that furious sizzling effect.
Second, as someone said, dab any excess moisture off. Water, obviously, has to butn off before you start to fry the veg, and what you're really trying to do, basically, is fry the outside fast enough to seal the veg.
But third, and for avocado, I prefer this, you 'velvet' ( as I think the Chinese call it) the food. There's various exact methods, but basically ....
1) Mix up an egg bath in a bowl.
2) Put some fine flour in a bowl
3) Optionally, put a "coating" in a bowl. More later on that.
4) Dunk avocado slices briefly (one at a time) in egg, then dip in flour. Brush off excess. You want a fine coat.
5) Deep fry.
OPTIONALLY .... after the flour, dunk briefly in "coating". That could simply be sprinkling salt/pepper on (rather than dunking), but you could add fine breadcrumbs, or fine breadcrumbs seasoned with salt and pepper. Or you could use a Parmesan panko. Or all sorts of variations on a theme.
One more thing.
Prepare all your bits first, the egg, flour, etc. It's perhaps more relevant with avocado, etc, but personally, I want to get the cooking underway fast once I start cutting/slicing things like aubergine. Especially avocado (or take precautionary steps, like a lemon or lime brushing to stop discoloration). But just moving quickly should be enough to slice, dunk, fry.
Broadly agree, but PROVIDED you like the taste, a fine spray of olive oil and frying on a cast iron skillet (therefore, obviously, very hot) often works well. I use a fairly generic olive oil that way, but a good one for sauces, salad dressings, etc.
There are currently 1 users browsing this thread. (0 members and 1 guests)
Posting Permissions
LinkBack URL
About LinkBacks
Reply With Quote