Breaded eggplant sticks how?

seeker

Wed, May 13 2015, 9:53 pm

So a couple of months ago I bought this bag of B'gan frozen prepared breaded eggplant sticks (french fry shape) that you bake. So unlike me, I never go for this prepared frozen food stuff, but the ingredients and nutrition profile looked reasonable enough and they were a well-deserved treat. You can never have too many ways to eat veggies, right?

Anyway we really really liked them, but I haven't seen them in any store since. I'm giving up. But I bet there must be some way to make the same thing at home! Probably healthier and less expensive, too. Please help! I already bought an eggplant and need to figure out what to do with it before it rots!

They were baked, not fried, but the flavor tasted almost like fried.

I'm thinking cornflake crumbs and spices, but what holds it together? Egg? Is oil enough? And if anyone has an actual recipe with specific spices and quantities, that would be a major bonus. I don't want to mess this up by dumping on too much salt or something.

rosebunch

Wed, May 13 2015, 10:05 pm

I would cut up the eggplant vertically. Then, coat with flour, dip into egg mixture (I break an egg, add some water, salt, paprika, white pepper, garlic powder and mix), and then dip into bread crumbs of your choice. I like the Japanese panko. Place on a lined cookie sheet and bake on 350 until golden.

seeker

Wed, May 13 2015, 10:06 pm

Wow, so many layers. The bought ones were very thinly coated. How long do you suppose it should take to bake?

ra_mom

Wed, May 13 2015, 10:12 pm

seeker wrote:

Wash and dry eggplant, cut into sticks.
Salt eggplant and allow water to seep out for 30 minutes. Drain liquid and pat eggplant dry.
Place 2 tbsp flour with a pinch of salt in a large ziploc bag. Add eggplant sticks, seal, and toss until evenly coated. Reserve bag for breading step.
Lightly beat an egg with a pinch of salt (or mush the egg up directly in the bag) and place in a large ziploc bag. Add floured eggplant sticks and toss until all are coated evenly.
Mix 7/8 cup corn flake crumbs with about 1/4 tsp each salt and garlic powder in the bag previously used for flour. Put in 3 eggplant sticks at a time, leave air but seal bag and shake until fully coated. Arrange sticks on a greased cookie sheet. Repeat with remaining sticks.
Spray tops of breaded eggplant with oil. Bake uncovered in oven preheated to 450 for about 20 minutes, flipping over halfway through if you have patience for that.
If you're eating it right away and don't have patience to salt and allow the eggplant to sweat, you can skip that step.

Last edited by ra_mom on Fri, May 15 2015, 4:14 pm; edited 3 times in total

seeker

Wed, May 13 2015, 10:15 pm

Wow, ra_mom, thanks for the precise directions! I take it you do this? Is it important to coat them only 3 at a time?!

ra_mom

Wed, May 13 2015, 10:18 pm

seeker wrote:

Wow, ra_mom, thanks for the precise directions! I take it you do this? Is it important to coat them only 3 at a time?!

I find the crumbs coat evenly if I only do 3 slices at a time. If your sticks are smaller than my rounds (I get about 12 from a large eggplant), you can do more than 3, probably 6.

seeker

Fri, May 15 2015, 4:11 pm

Quick: peel on or off?

ra_mom

Fri, May 15 2015, 4:12 pm

seeker wrote:

Quick: peel on or off?

I like it on but you can decide either way

seeker

Fri, May 15 2015, 4:17 pm

Thanks!wow you really are quick lol