Ways to freeze eggplants
Eggplants tend to change their structure and taste after freezing, when it is carried out by analogy with other crops. Knowing how to freeze eggplants can preserve nutrients.
Ways to freeze eggplants
Basic Rules
First, choose suitable eggplants from fresh nightshades: clean, even, firm, without spots, with a shiny skin. Choose small in size, the stalk should be green, not dry. The variety can be any.
Determine the suitability of the fruit as follows: press the fruit with the pad of the finger. If the dent that appears disappears in 2-3 seconds, then the fruit is fully ripe.
To freeze eggplants at home, prepare:
- sharp knife;
- peeler;
- vegetable brush;
- a large saucepan;
- a large bowl or basin;
- plastic wrap;
- baking sheet;
- foil;
- a plug;
- potholders;
- paper towels.
The optimum storage temperature is -12 °, shelf life is 6 months. Complete freezing of eggplants will take 4-4.5 hours.
What you need to know
Solanaceae do not have their own smell, but they are able to absorb any extraneous aromas. Before freezing eggplants in the freezer, clear the space of melon, garlic, pepper, meat, fish. Better to freeze in a separate compartment of the refrigerator.
Conventional thin disposable polyethylene bags are not suitable. To store frozen eggplants, airtight bags or containers are prepared. Glassware is not suitable. Eggplant bags indicate the date and method of processing.
The bag is made in a vacuum: air is drawn out with a tube, and then immediately closed.
Treatment
With any method, eggplants must be washed before freezing, the stalks are removed, and the spoiled parts are cut out. When grown in a vegetable garden, they are washed thoroughly with a vegetable brush.
They are cut as necessary. How fresh blues are cut depends on the end use. For some dishes, freezing is carried out entirely. The smaller the pieces are, the faster the product will freeze and more nutrients will be retained. Solanaceae are cut into cubes, strips, circles, cubes. Cutting is carried out as follows:
- cut off by 0.5 cm at the top and bottom of the blue;
- peel off the peel along the blue;
- cut into pieces of the required shape with a knife.
Soaking nightshades will help you freeze eggplants correctly. Chopped or whole nightshades are placed in a container, filled with cool salt water. Withstand 2-3 hours. The procedure helps to remove the characteristic bitterness from nightshades, which will intensify when frozen.
Freezing involves heat treatment. Do not freeze raw, because they become rubbery in the freezer.
Extinguishing
The peel from young vegetables can be left on.
The vegetable is cut into cubes of the same size 2x2 cm. it is soft.
Preheat the oven to 190-200. A mold, a saucepan, a baking sheet is greased with sunflower or olive oil. Lay out the slicing. Stew for 10-15 minutes. The oven is opened several times, the blue ones are stirred. Then they take out the blue ones and cool them down.The stewed blue cubes are put in containers to freeze the eggplants.
Blanching
The method is considered one of the quickest and most convenient. Blanching destroys the enzymes that cause eggplant to rot. Cut into large pieces.
For the procedure, it is better to use a colander and a large saucepan, fill it 2/3 with water. After soaking in salt water, the eggplants are dipped in boiling water filled with 30 ml of lemon juice per 1 liter of water. Blanch should only be 3 minutes. Lemon juice will keep the pulp from darkening. Ice water is poured into a large basin, the vegetable is lowered there for 5 minutes. It stops the heat treatment, which allows you to preserve the nutritional, flavoring properties of the vegetable. The water in the pot and basin is used to blanch 5 batches of vegetables.
Vegetables are removed with a colander and dried. Then they are put in bags to freeze the eggplants.
Roasting
Wholly
Eggplants should be frozen whole as follows: fried over low heat on all sides in a hot pan with a thick bottom until soft. Oil is not used. Cool and peel before placing in the freezer. Each vegetable is tightly wrapped in a separate bag, plastic wrap.
Chopped
Sliced nightshades soaked in salt water are cut into slices or strips of 0.5-1 cm.
For frying, use a non-stick pan. Fry on 2 sides until golden brown, spread on paper towels so that the oil is absorbed.
When the vegetables have cooled down, the cutting board is wrapped with cling film several times, circles are laid out on it in one layer so that they do not touch each other.
Store in a freezer for 1-1.5 hours at a temperature of -18 ° and below. After the time has elapsed, the hardened nightshades are removed, laid out in bags for long-term freezing of eggplants.
Application
As a whole, they are frozen for the subsequent preparation of eggplant caviar. Blue ones defrost, chop finely, add raw onions, cubed tomatoes, season with vegetable oil. The taste and smell of the dish is smoky.
Fried frozen eggplants in slices are suitable for baked dishes with zucchini and tomatoes.
Frying in strips is necessary for making nightshade rolls filled with:
- minced meat with herbs;
- tomatoes and mozzarella;
- cottage cheese, herbs, eggs.
Blue ones do not defrost, but immediately fry, cool, wrap the filling.
Stewing is necessary for the subsequent preparation of stew (saute) from blue, sweet peppers, potatoes. Add onions, salt, pepper. Stew in a deep frying pan in vegetable oil under a lid over low heat.
Blanch the blue ones for the further preparation of the baked roast. The dish is prepared in pots with any ingredients to taste.
Conclusion
Among the methods for freezing eggplants at home, the best methods are based on heat treatment. The correct procedure is able to preserve such useful qualities of the vegetable as: excretion of bile from the body, improvement of intestinal motility due to the fiber content, stimulation of the circulatory system with copper. The disadvantage is that the vegetable is perishable and contains solanine.