Why You Need To Brine Your Eggplant Before Throwing It On The Grill

Many recipes that call for grilled or fried eggplants start by salting the pieces of eggplant, purportedly to draw out the bitterness of the vegetables. This could be a tip passed on from one generation to another to the point it is baked into recipes, but the reality is that the bitter taste rarely exists in modern-day eggplants, apart from very old or large-sized eggplants.

However, there is still a reason to salt eggplants before grilling via a salt bath or a brine. Brining the eggplants and letting them sit for at least 30 minutes draws out excess moisture from eggplants via osmosis. This allows the eggplant to become crispy rather than mushy when grilled. The result will be a slightly charred or smoky eggplant that holds its shape and has a bit of a bite rather than slices that fall apart when you pierce it with a fork or thread it into skewers.

Usually, we salt food during the cooking process to enhance the flavor. Brining or salting food beforehand is typically to "dehydrate" the food, which is important when cooking eggplants as they have 92 percent water content, which puts them in the same category as spinach and watermelon. This high water content is great for making smoothies, but it is not ideal for grilling because it makes the eggplant soggy, bland, and unable to fully absorb the seasoning.

This is where brining or salting the eggplant slices before cooking helps as it will draw out the extra moisture, which in turn will improve both the texture and flavor of the eggplant. So, what you will have is a grilled eggplant that is luscious with a hint of sweetness. Bonus: You can cut down on the salt during cooking. Between the two options, brining is a slightly better option because it also makes the eggplant flesh creamier.

Brining might sound like overkill, but it matters because there is no way to hide an unappetizing slice of grilled eggplant. In comparison, when it comes to layered eggplant dishes like eggplant parmigiana or moussaka, it is possible to mask soggy eggplants because it is baked with a juicy sauce. There are also numerous herbs and flavors that can step up if the eggplant component is bland.

Luckily, the brining process is fairly straightforward. Dissolve one to two tablespoons of salt in one cup of warm water and combine with one liter of cold water. Slice the eggplant and place it in the brine for at least 30 minutes, then drain and pat dry with a tea towel or paper towel. Remember to be a bit gentle here because the eggplants are effectively dehydrated and would have lost some of their structural integrity.

The dried slices will stay fresh in the fridge for one to two days, so go ahead and brine more eggplants than you need for the day and consider recipes like this grilled eggplant with feta and cucumber.