The eggplants were beautiful at the farmers’ market, so I bought one – and then started searching for a hundred-year-old eggplant recipe.
I found a nice recipe for Fried Eggplant, Julienne Style. The eggplant strips were tasty, and a nice alternative to French fried potatoes.
Here’s the original recipe:
Here’s the recipe updated for modern cooks:
Fried Eggplant, Julienne Style
1 eggplant
salt & pepper
1/2 cup flour
shortening or cooking oil
Peel eggplant, and cut into strips approximately 4 inches long, and 1/2 inch thick and wide. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Put the flour in a shallow bowl, then roll the eggplant strips in the flour.
Heat 1/2 inch of shortening or oil in a large frying pan until hot. Place the floured eggplant strips in the pan in a single layer. Depending upon pan size, the eggplant strips may need to be cooked in several batches. Fry for about two minutes or until the bottom side of each piece is lightly browned, then gently turn and fry until the other side is browned. Remove from pan and drain on paper towels. Serve immediately.
A Hundred Years Ago 
Interesting recipe. I love eggplant.
It you like eggplant, you’ll enjoy this recipe.
My son made some eggplant fries as well as traditional potato fries one night and the eggplant fries were gone first, they are sooo good!! I’ll have to remind him to make them more often!
It’s fascinating that the eggplant fries were gone first – though maybe I shouldn’t be surprised. They are tasty.
I also love eggplant; this sounds great!
You should give the recipe a try.
I might do that!
It sounds like a great way to eat eggplant.
It is a nice, simple way to prepare eggplant.
I hope no one gives us an eggplant, but if they do, I’ll use this recipe.
🙂 It’s always interesting to see which vegetables people will give me. There seems to be some variation from year to year regarding which vegetable my friends too much of.
In our neighborhood, we’ve been given only zucchini or yellow squash and cucumbers. I don’t know what else people have, but evidently they can consume as much as they grow.
People also often give me tomatoes and green beans – and a friend always gives me some crabapples.
Colorful and tasty!
Served in Spain as a tapa with honey. Delicious.
mmm. . . this sounds wonderful. I may have to make this recipe again and serve them with honey.
I’ve never been able to enjoy eggplant – the texture is . . . not pleasant to me. But the crispiness here might be the difference.
I’m with you on the texture – and find that this crispiness turns eggplant to yummers.
Worth a shot! I’ll give it a try.
If the eggplant is fried at a fairly high temperature, the outside browns while the inside is still somewhat firm which results in a nice texture.
These are beautiful! I love eggplant and this looks and sounds so tasty–I think I might need to get to the Farmers Market this week!
If you like eggplant, I think that you’ll like this recipe. I hope that you find a nice eggplant at the farmers’ market.
I made the Julienne fried eggplant! While mine were not as pretty as yours, they were very tasty!
This might make eggplant tasty. I’ve had yucca made into fries and that was delicious- maybe the same will hold for this vegetable.
Your comment makes we wonder whether I can buy yucca around here. I’ve had yucca once or twice in restaurants, but have never made any yucca dishes.
I love it when you can do something as simple as cutting a vegetable differently and you have an entirely new dish!
I had the same reaction when I first saw this recipe. It such a simple change to go from slicing to julienning yet it creates a new dish.
Do you think it necessary to peel them? They’d be good without, wouldn’t they?
I peeled the eggplant because the old recipe called for it, but it isn’t necessary. If you don’t typically peel eggplant, I won’t peel it for this recipe.
I never thought to slice them this way! I’m gonna try it with all the zucchini I have right now…. just might be similar.
I bet that it would also work well to slice zuchinni this way.
I’m going to give this a try tomorrow!
I think that you’ll like it.
Anything fried taste good! I’ll be trying this. I don’t eat eggplant often but this may do the trick. I don’t eat sweet potatoes at all unless they are fried.
And, I’m going to have to try fried sweet potatoes. I don’t think that I’ve ever had them prepared that way.
I can’t believe you’ve never eaten fried sweet potatoes, Sheryl. Just cut them up like regular potatoes and fry them. Delicious!
Thanks for the directions. They sound super easy to make.
Do you think these need to be dipped in flour first or can they be fried as is? Son is doing low carb so I try to cut them as much as possible.
Yes, I think that you could fry them without the flour. I think that they’d still brown nicely – though there won’t be any coating.
Sounds a lot like the way my mother used to prepare fried summer squash. Giving me ideas for the giant zucchini taking up space in my kitchen.
Glad to hear that this post gave you an idea for that zucchini.
This does sound delicious! I’m hoping the eggplants I have growing produce fruit!xxx
I’ll keep my fingers crossed that your plants produce some eggplants.
What a clever way to fry eggplant. I always slice in circles. This way seems easier and more efficient.
Cutting the strips is a nice change of pace that makes a lovely “new” dish.