Why it works: Sugar and pepper are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 32% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 19,401 recipes. Both carry 2-nonenal, which smells fatty, green. The science ↓
Fried Eggplant
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the eggplant
Pare the eggplant and cut into thin slices.
Sprinkle each slice with salt and pepper.
Pile the slices evenly on a deep plate; press them with a flat iron to remove excess juice and let sit for an hour.
Coat and fry
Beat lightly and add a tablespoon of boiling water; dip each slice into this mixture and then in bread crumbs.
Heat 3 tablespoons of lard or dripping in a frying pan until hot.
Fry the slices, browning each side.
Add more fat as it is consumed, waiting for it to heat before adding more slices.
Drain and serve
Drain the fried slices on brown paper.
Serve hot with tomato catsup.
Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)
What these numbers assume: 4 portions
| Ingredient | Portion assumed | kcal |
|---|---|---|
| Lard | 1 tbsp (12.8g) | 115 |
| Sugar | 1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated | 49 |
| Black Pepper | 1 tsp ground (2.3g) | 6 |
| Salt | 1 tsp (6g) | 0 |
One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.
Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures. See the original page.
Photo for illustrative purposes only · Contact us to use it
Explore the science
The flavor team
The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.
-
Sugar + peppertop 32% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together19,401 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Sugar and pepper barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 19,401 recipes: they work on texture and structure more than aroma.
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Eggplant (in the method)
- Pressing out its excess juice keeps the thin slices from steaming, so they can brown.
- Bread crumbs (in the method)
- Form a crisp outer coating that browns when the slices are fried.
- Lard
- Frying fat that conducts heat and browns the slices, adding richness.
The step that matters
Heat the fat until hot before adding slices. Hot fat sets the crumb coating quickly and browns it. Cold or underheated fat soaks into the slices, leaving them greasy and pale.
“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.
More fried eggplant recipes
You might also like
Tomato Soup526 recipes
Brown Bread461 recipes
Mutton Broth292 recipes
Yorkshire Pudding264 recipesThe free Flavor Lab newsletter: one surprising pairing a week and the molecular reason it works, in 60 seconds. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.
Prefer an account? Create a free account to save pairings and unlock the full chemistry.