The market · Vegetables · Southeast Asia
Thai aubergines
Small, round, green-and-white aubergines, crunchy and slightly bitter. Eaten raw with nam prik, or cooked briefly in green curry so they keep some bite.
crisp · bitter · grassy
What to do with it
SundaneseKaredokRaw vegetables — long beans, cucumber, sprouts, cabbage, small aubergines and lemon basil — in a peanut sauce sharp with kencur.No one here has made it yetSundaneseLalapan and sambal terasiRaw leaves and vegetables — cucumber, cabbage, lemon basil, long beans, small aubergines — with a sambal of chilli, toasted shrimp paste and tomato.No one here has made it yet
If you can't find it
Asian grocers: small, round, green and white.
- The same weight, in chunks, added laterYou lose the crunch and the slight bitterness.
Goes with
Knowing it
- Where to buy
- Thai grocers. Pea aubergines, tiny and in clusters, are a different variety, more bitter still.
- Worth knowing
- Cut them just before cooking and drop them in salted water; they brown fast.
