Ready in less than 30 minutes, these eggplant steaks are finger licking good!
Creamy, “meaty” with a light crisp on the outside they’re a total hit.
If you don’t know what they’re made of, you will NEVER guess it’s just an eggplant!
Even for “meat” guys it turns our really delicious and doesn’t taste vegetarian at all.
The best eggplants for steaks are round, with light purple and white color gradient. They are called Bianca or Rosa Bianca eggplant.
Their flesh is sweet, meaty and almost seedless. They are big in diameter - and it’s in and of itself is SOO pleasing to see a big piece on a plate 😉
But you can use a traditional Italian eggplant (like on the picture below) and it works great as well.
There is an interesting take from My Wintersong on how to choose THE BEST eggplant at the market. Girl or a Boy? Quick answer: IT’S A BOY 🙂
Somehow they have less seeds and tend to be less bitter if bitter at all!
And I find this to be true.
You can identify a “boy” eggplant by a perfect round shape of the “bellybutton” on the opposite end of the stem.
Now, before your rush to check on your eggplants here’s just one more important thing to keep in mind before you start making your eggplant steaks.
There is NO NEED to salt and dehydrate eggplants like we do when making Parmigiana.
In fact, we don’t even SALT our eggplants until they’re ready so serve.
As you might've guessed, once salted they’ll start to release liquid and do a mess in the pan with hot oil. Plus, salt will promote absorbing of oil. And that’s NOT what we want.
Rather than that, there are no real tricks to the recipe.
Super simple and amazingly delicious.
Full Recipe
Eggplant Steaks - Creamy Inside, Crispy Outside
Ingredients
- 2 eggplants
- 2 eggs (beaten)
- 1 cup breadcrumbs
- Handful fresh parsley (chopped)
- Salt, pepper to taste
- Vegetable oil for frying
Instructions
- Wash and pat-dry the eggplants. Cut off the ends.Slice each eggplant crosswise into ⅓ inch thick slices.
- Deep each slice in the beaten egg. Then dredge in breadcrumbs.
- With a palm of your hand press breadcrumbs into the eggplant steak, tap of excess.
- Have all breaded eggplants ready on a cutting board or on a large plate.
In a large deep pan preheat the oil to 350F. - If you don’t have a kitchen thermometer do a test-fry with a smaller piece first. If it starts to sizzle immediately and floats to the top, oil is ready.
- NOTE: don’t let the oil overheat that it starts “smoking” or burning. Adjust the heat accordingly.
- Deep eggplant steaks in a preheated oil and fry on each side for 3 to 4 minutes, flipping them from time to time.
- Take out ready eggplants on a paper towel to remove the excess oil.
Sprinkle with salt and pepper to taste. - Enjoy eggplant steaks hot generously drizzled with fresh herbs.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Serve them with a salad, a platter of smoked salmon drizzled with lemon juice and olive oil or simply enjoy it on a hot piece of ciabatta or focaccia bread.
Take your veggie steaks to the next level and mix in tomato steaks to the eggplant steaks platter.
Over the TOP!
Leave a Reply