Chinese Eggplant Recipe: Red-Braised Eggplants - Yang's Nourishing Kitchen (2024)

FAQs

Are Chinese eggplants healthy? ›

Eating them as part of a balanced diet may benefit your heart's overall health. The antioxidants in Chinese eggplants, specially nasunin and chlorogenic acid, may help lower LDL cholesterol levels. High LDL cholesterol is a major risk factor for heart disease. So, eating Chinese eggplants may promote heart health.

The difference is that Chinese are lighter purple, and Japanese are a dark purple like the American eggplant.

Yes, the skin of Chinese eggplant is tender and entirely edible. Unlike the thicker skin of some Western eggplants, Chinese eggplant's skin cooks down to a soft texture, so there's no need to peel it. It also adds color and additional nutrients to the dish.

One of the most popular was the long, thin, purple eggplant from Taiwan known as Ping Tung. This is an exceptional eggplant with sweet, pleasant tasting flesh. The plants are incredibly prolific and produce throughout the entire season.

Chinese Eggplant: Chinese Eggplant is also called Asian Eggplant. If you cannot find Chinese Eggplant, you can substitute with regular Eggplant. Light Soy Sauce: this is your “light” or “all-purpose” soy sauce.

Inspite of all the health benefits that eggplant provides, consumption of this vegetable in large quantities can have some harmful effects on your body. Nasunin, present in eggplant, is a phytochemical which can bind with iron and remove it from the cells. The oxalates in this vegetable can cause stones in the kidney.

eggplant has exerted an antihypertensive effect via ACE inhibitory activity. Therefore, eggplant has been suggested as useful food for the management of hypertension and its complications in daily life (Figure 2). ...

Eggplant has antioxidants like vitamins A and C, which help protect your cells against damage. It's also high in natural plant chemicals called polyphenols, which may help cells do a better job of processing sugar if you have diabetes.

Also known as Oriental Charm and Pingtung Long, Chinese eggplant inherently has fewer seeds than Western eggplant varieties making them less bitter and meatier. Chinese eggplants are popularly used in stir-fries and will hold its shape when cooked.

In fact, the purple fruit was once nicknamed "mad apple" by Europeans as eggplants were thought to be poisonous, per Permaculture News. That's because eggplants are part of the Nightshade family, which the toxic nightshade berries belong to (via Harvesting History).

Should Chinese eggplant be refrigerated? ›

Eggplants do not store well for long periods of time. Without refrigeration, eggplants can be stored in a cool, dry place for 1 or 2 days. If you don't intend to eat the eggplant within 2 days, it should be refrigerated.

Soaking eggplant in water and vinegar helps remove some of the vegetable's natural bitterness.

Eggplants prefer cool, dark environments, like a pantry or wine cooler, and their optimum storage temperature is around 50 degrees F. Eggplant will last between five and seven days in the refrigerator as long as the skin hasn't been removed or damaged.

No doubt that that is the most common type of eggplant found in the U.S., yet the world of eggplants is much bigger—and sometimes smaller, fatter, or skinnier. Some are sweeter than others, or more bitter. You'll find greener varieties, as well as white.

In addition to its culinary attributes, eggplant has been used in traditional Chinese medicine for thousands of years. The fruits, roots, and leaves of the Chinese eggplant are used to help reduce symptoms in an array of ailments such as toothaches, abscesses, wounds and sores, fever, and intestinal disorders.

1. Chinese Eggplant. The Chinese eggplant — not to be confused with the similar-looking Japanese eggplant — has a long, narrow body with a light to mid-toned purple exterior and white flesh. Because it has fewer seeds that the familiar globe (American) variety, it's less bitter in taste.

There are many varieties of eggplant. So that's one place to start. Chinese eggplant, the long, narrow, purple ones, generally have few seeds and are not bitter. However, that is one of, I don't know, over a dozen varieties.