What Worth said about frying, with emphasis on the HOT oil. So hot that the oil is to the point of smoking. You want that crust to crisp up as soon as it hits the pan then it won't soak up so much oil.
Many people don't "fry" things in a hot enough pan. That's why stuff soaks up too much oil.
As far as the bitter goes -- FRESH should not be bitter. Fresh right from the garden. But eggplant looses moisture fast compared to many vegies and when it's "old", as in from the grocery store, it will be somewhat soft and could be bitter. Eggplant also bruises much easier than most other vegies so you don't want a fruit with any decernable soft spots compared with the rest of the fruit.
A way to tell if your eggplant is fresh if you didn't pick it yourself -- are there small almost invisible spines on the caylix ?? People that only get their eggplant from the store are always surprised at the farmers markets when the eggplant "bite" them. Those spines fall off about 4 days after they are picked and about the time the eggplant are loosing moisture.
JMO,
Carol
Last edited by Wi-sunflower; January 10, 2014 at 08:12 AM.
Reason: added thought
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