Trimmed & Salted Japanese Eggplant

1 kg whole japanese eggplant

25g kosher salt

1. Trim the stem end of each eggplant.
2. "Stripe" the outside peel from the eggplant, use a peeler to remove 3-4 lengthwise strips on the peel.
3. Split the eggplant lengthwise.
4. Cut 1' wide bias slices of each eggplant half.
5. Move all the trimmed eggplant to a bowl & toss in the kosher salt.
6. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap & refrigerate for 30 minutes.
7. The eggplant will "sweat" as it sits in the walk-in. This helps remove some bitterness (better flavor), some water (nicer caramelization when we cook it), and makes the final texture creamier.
8. After 30 minutes, quickly rinse the eggplant of the salt & pat dry.
9. Store under refrigeration for service.

1. Pay attention to the size of your eggplants -- not all are equal -- and they will shrink as we cook them. So do not cut the pieces too small.
2. DONT SKIP RINSING & PATTING DRY!