Friday's Last Spoonful: Eggplant Breakfast

Waking up to a yummy surprise

A reader (Thanks, Jenel of Arizona!) of The Mixed Stew asked for a recipe for egg-wash fried eggplant, which apparently more residents on Guam had for breakfast than we could have even imagined. Mom makes this healthy breakfast entree, which usually is gobbled up in a jiffy. The cooked vegetable absorbs and extends the egg flavors. It is fine served alone with that traditional Guam breakfast starch -- steamed white rice. Or serve the eggplant with breakfast meat.

Fried eggplant -- an "almost" omelet

What you will need:

1 sauce pan
1 medium-size bowl (filled with ice water)
1 frying pan
spatula
1 shallow casserole dish
3 cups water
6 Japanese eggplants *(see Helpful Hint below)
4 large eggs or 5 medium eggs
¼ cup milk
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
Pinch of salt and pepper

Cooking and Directions

Combine eggs, pepper, salt, and milk in the casserole dish. Beat egg mixture well and set aside. Start off sauce pan on high heat with water. Bring to a boil. Slice eggplants in half (lengthwise). Place eggplants into boiling water. Let the eggplants cook until just soft. Remove eggplants and immediately submerge them in bowl of ice water. Next, take them out of ice water bath. Let excess liquid drain off and pat dry with paper towel.

Now, heat up frying pan on medium high heat. Add oil to heated pan. Dip eggplants in egg mixture. Immediately place dipped eggplants in frying pan. Let them brown slightly, or more if you prefer, on one side. The timing will vary depending on the thickness of the eggplant. Turn over each piece once and let brown on other side.

*Helpful hint: You can also use the round Italian eggplants for a version of this. Simply cut the large eggplant into 1/8-inch slices or thinner, blanch each slice in boiling water to soften and then dip pieces into the egg wash so that each side is coated. Then fry in heated pan with oil like above.