sweetpea HELP Question for sweetpea

rawmamarawmama Raw Newbie

Hi sweetpea,
On the topic of mushroom substitutes you wrote that you find aubergine (eggplant) quite a good substitute and to soak thin slices overnight in slightly salted water.

Could you please tell me what soaking the eggplant does? And will the eggplant stay white in color overnight?

Thank you so much :) Doing a recipe this week with eggplant…

Comments

  • BluedolfinBluedolfin Raw Newbie

    ... and “cooks” it (and other veggies) a bit. Veggies tend to be softer after being salted.

  • rawmamarawmama Raw Newbie

    Wow, glad sweetpea mentioned it in the other posting. So today I learned a new thing…live and learn, that’s what it’s all about…

    Thank you so much for your help! I did not know this and it is a great thing to know…now I know that my dish will taste much better I’m sure, thanks to your advice :)

  • BluedolfinBluedolfin Raw Newbie

    rawmama~ What are you going to make?

  • rawmamarawmama Raw Newbie

    I was going to soak eggplant in tamari and garlic then dehydrate it for a few hours so it was really soft. I like that combination of flavors, and instead of mushrooms, thought eggplant would be a healthier choice yet still spongy in texture. I’m going to a Raw Food Brunch and didn’t think that everybody would be into eating mushrooms.

    What is your take on Portobello mushrooms, or actually any other type of mushroom, seeing that they are fungus?

  • BluedolfinBluedolfin Raw Newbie

    I love mushrooms… especially portobellos! I have no problem with them. Yes, there IS a fungus amoung us. ;)

    You might try soaking the eggplant for about an hour in salted water to pull out the bitterness and then marinate and dehydrate as you were going to.

  • rawmamarawmama Raw Newbie

    Sounds like a plan :) I will soak it on Wednesday and let you know on Thursday how it goes…hopefully I’ll be able to keep my hands out of the dehydrator LOL! I’ll let you know how it goes.

    I already know that doing this combo with sliced Portobellos is delicious! I sometimes add cayenne to the mix for an added zing. I always de-rib the mushroom, heard that that is what makes them taste really earthy/strong, so haven’t tried it with the ribs attached. Hopefully the eggplant will give the same texture. I’ve tried it already with zucchini, which everybody still liked, but it didn’t compare to the mushrooms, so maybe the eggplant will absorb more marinade and match the mushroom-likeness more.

  • sweetpeasweetpea Raw Newbie

    Hello rawmama, you got some good advice there. Soaking just makes the eggplant softer, you can get good results if its then marinated in a tomato sauce and left overnight before putting in the dehydrater. It’s a bit of preparation but this vegetable needs it to make it palatable for me. If I don’t have alot of prep time I simply soak the eggplant for a few hours, say from breakfast time to use at teatime. I then put the slices into the dryer as they are and they can go nice and crisp after an hour or two at 145. They taste sweet and like crisps.

  • rawmamarawmama Raw Newbie

    Hi sweetpea :) Sounds like everybody has missed you :)
    Thank you for bringing up the topic, I’m going to be doing this on Wednesday to soften them, will try the slicing thinly and doing the marinara sauce to make the chips afterwards, that sounds great! Thank you for sharing that fun idea…this site it wonderful, people are so helpful and have great ideas :)

  • sweetpeasweetpea Raw Newbie

    Hi rawmama, let me know how the dish turns out. It’s put me in the mood to get some eggplant this shopping and make a nice stew.
    I love coming here too!

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