Cookaholics Bulletin Board

I planted these things many years ago, and liked them so much I don't know why I didn't again, except that they were so late. So this year I tried them 2 months earlier, and I am now seeing huge numbers of them (the plant is over 7 feet tall).

In recent years I have seen them in Asian markets occasionally, though not in good condition, but some of you may be luckier. Have any of you used them? They add another flavor component to Thai curries (and I'm sure they are used elsewhere, as well), and tonight I made one, with my first harvest, plus a bunch of other Asian eggplants. I forgot how good they were! Here is what they look like, and are between 3/8 and 1/2" in size:

Yes, I can get then. Never so fresh, though. Love them in Thai curry.

Mary

I've been able to get the golf-ball-sized ones from Berkeley Bowl, but never the pea ones. Would be nice to pick some up ...

I just cut most of them off that plant, and got 6 cups of them - not much, when you consider mass or weight, but they do make a great addition to Thai curry, so definitely worth it. I vac-packed 11 half cup bags, after blanching the EP for a minute, and used a half cup in a curry tonight. There are still 13 more clusters on the plant, though a few on each cluster are just forming, so I waited on all of those. I'll see how much more I get.

Those make fairytale eggplants look like monsters. Tell us about the flavor.

tim

Tim,

Though they are AKA bitter EPs, they aren't really that bitter - nothing like bitter melon, at least. They have a sort of metalic, or irony taste, in there, with that slight EP flavor, and the thing that makes them really good is that burst of flavor you get when biting into them. However, sometimes it seems they are hotter than the rest of the curry when I do this, though I know that can't be true!