Veggie Review: White Eggplant

I rescued the plants that bore these little beauties about a month ago from the clearance sale at a local greenhouse. In past years, I've grown traditional purple eggplants with great success. I had actually been planning to do the same again, but the place was understandably picked over. These little guys were just to interesting to pas up, and the nursery staff told me they didn't think they tasted much different from what I was used to, so I decided to give them a try. At the very least, I knew I'd achieve the addition of colorful beauty to the landscape of our newly dug flower bed.

Sure enough, the plants with their lovely umbrella-like soft, green leaves, took to their new surroundings and regular watering. Soon, the plants put forth lovely purple flowers, just as their purple cousins do, and these delicate looking white fingers of eggplant started to emerge.

Much smaller than traditional eggplant, these grow to about 3-4 inches and are quite thin. When we finally had enough to pick for a side dish to dinner, I was incredibly excited to give them a taste.

After consulting the internets, B settled on a preparation that involved slicing the veggies into small round pieces, much like chopping a carrot. He then seasoned with garlic, oyster sauce, salt, red chiles, and sugar...maybe something else. The smell of the dish as it sauteed was incredibly inviting, and my mouth was watering as we sat down to the dinner table.

Then, I took a bite. B took a bite. Bean did not take a bite, though she did approvingly lick the sauce off. I was immediately surprised. Because of their lovely, graceful, appearance, I had anticipated a corresponding taste in my mouth. Instead of a delicate flavor, however, these babies offered a fairly strong dose of bitterness. The skin is not delicate either. Though the inside flesh is tender, the skin was quite tough and, in my opinion, interfered with the eating experience. I think that next time we will remove it. I will say that although the flesh was much more bitter than anticipated, the sweet/salty sauce B had concocted was a perfect counter. I finished my entire helping and went back for more. Traditional eggplants can also be bitter, though I've always found it's related to ripeness, and the amount of time that passes between the picking and the plating. At any rate, the solution for these is to sprinkle the slices with salt, and let it draw out the bitter juices for 15-30 minutes before cooking. I wonder whether the same would be true for the little white ones.

Though I was (unpleasantly) surprised, I am most definitely going to give these eggplants another chance. We'll see what a bit of peeling and salting will do next time around. In the meantime, I'll continue to enjoy the way they perfectly compliment my birdhouse.