Queen Amina's Cooking Tips

1) Take da skin off
The skin tends to be thicker on larger eggplants. Sometimes the skin is harder to chew. Peeling the skin before roasting or sautéing is the way to go.

2) Give ‘em some room
Lay eggplants out on your baking sheet or in your frying pan in a single layer. Eggplants are about 80 to 90 percent water, so they need space to evaporate all that water and to caramelize properly.

3) Brine um
Brining adds flavor and texture to eggplants. Mix spices and salt with water and soak the eggplants for 30 minutes. You can also use fresh aromatics and herbs by simmering the brining solution. Cool your brining solution before soaking your eggplant.

4) Pre-salt um
Salting and pat-drying eggplants are common steps in many recipes for drawing out excess moisture. Eggplants have a spongy texture that absorbs fats and flavors, but only when slightly dehydrated with the help of a couple of sprinkles of salt. Add a pinch of salt to both sides of the eggplant slices and let them sit for a few minutes.

5) Don’t add too many other tings
If you add too many things you will lose the unique flavor of eggplants. Practice restraint with eggplant dish and use ingredients to complement and enhance the eggplant, not mask it.

6) Cook em all da way
Eggplants take 15 to 25 minutes to fully cook. Undercooked eggplants have a bitter taste. Undercooked eggplants also have the texture of cotton balls so make sure to cook them for a 15 minute minimum to get the best texture and flavor.