Eggplant
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Regular eggplant
The standard eggplant is mainly grown in the USA and Italy, both places having the right soil composition for the fruitful growth of eggplants.
As weird as it may sound, they’re a fruit and come from the nightshade family.
Eggplants all have nicotine in them. In fact, they have the largest amount found in any conventional vegetable!
Regular eggplants are generally rounder than Japanese eggplants, while both categories represent purplish or sometimes even dark blue hues.
Chinese eggplant
They can be easily identified by their pale violet color and thick hues of blue on the lower end. The patterns on the body can depict the quality of a Chinese eggplant.
They’re sleek and cylindrical while being a little bit larger than their Japanese counterparts. This makes them apt for stir-fries and sautés.
Japanese eggplant
The Japanese eggplant, contrary to the standard teardrop-shaped eggplant, is cylindrical. So its shape resembles that of the Chinese eggplant, but the Japanese version is smaller and longer in size.
They have dark purple hues when it comes to color, but the top may turn blackish-blue if let in the sun for too long once they’ve become ripe.
They’re easy to cook, so they’re preferred by fast-food restaurants for whipping up quick dishes. They’re excellent for grilling and broiling work, as they’re not as mild as Chinese or regular eggplants.
They’re usually served as a delicacy in Japan after being mixed with ginger, soy, and garlic.
Nutritional content of Japanese eggplants
The nutritional contents of Japanese eggplant are
- Total calories for 230 g of serving: 81
- 0.5 g of fat
- 2.3 mg of sodium
- 283 mg of potassium
- 20 g of carbohydrates
- 1.9 g of protein
Check out our new cookbook
Bitemybun's family recipes with complete meal planner and recipe guide.
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Joost Nusselder, the founder of Bite My Bun is a content marketer, dad and loves trying out new food with Japanese food at the heart of his passion, and together with his team he's been creating in-depth blog articles since 2016 to help loyal readers with recipes and cooking tips.
