It's a question I ask myself every single time I slice into the big purple vegetable. Conventional wisdom has you salt the slices to draw bitter liquid out of the eggplant. Once the slices have sat for about a hour, you're suppose to rinse them under cool water to remove any excess salt and then proceed with your recipe.
But I'll admit something: I never do this. I never have the foresight or, frankly, the time. Tacking on a whole extra hour of prep time is asking a lot, so my game time decision is always just to skip it.
And the truth is, the eggplant dishes I've made have never once turned out bitter. So is it really necessary to waste that hour salting?
I reached out to an expert for the answer. Sara Jenkins, chef and owner of Porsena in New York City has cooked many an eggplant in her career and firmly believes salting is unnecessary. "I have rarely found an eggplant that is so bitter that it needs salting. I just cut it up, toss the pieces with olive oil, and start cooking." she says. "The claim is reminiscent of a time when eggplants were more bitter. Today, eggplants are bred not to have that kind of bitterness," Jenkins explains.
She does call out one outlier though. "The only exception is when you deep fry it. I tend to soak the slices in a bowl of water with a couple of tablespoon of salt for about 30-45 minutes. It doesn't have to do with bitterness, but I find that in doing this, the fried eggplant turns out less greasy," Jenkins says.
