It’s incredible… how daring we are sometimes.
My friend Tania visited Paraguay for the first time about 6-7 years ago. During that first trip she learned from our Yoga friends over there how to make Eggplant Milanese using cornstarch and oatmeal as the breading. We all loved the fried eggplants when she first made them at the Yoga Center.
Flash forward to March 2012… here you have Yazmín and I making Eggplant Milanese in Paraguay. Not helping them make them… noooo, making them ourselves to treat everyone after our short retreat near Asunción.
How dare we come and cook something for them that they actually taught us how to make??? We are daring indeed…
Something I have learned over the years I’ve known how to make these Eggplant Milaneses:
- No need to actually use a mandolin. They actually come out better when cut not as thin. After a nasty mandolin accident making these milaneses at home recently, I now cut them with a knife and they come out even better than with a mandolin even if they’re a tad uneven.
- No need to marinate for a long time. Soy sauce is fine, but you can only marinate for about 30 minutes and you’ll be fine. A tad of sesame oil adds a nice twist too. And when they marinate less, your end up with a juicier fried eggplant.
- Season the milk and the oatmeal very well before breading the eggplants. When the milk and the oatmeal are well-seasoned, it compensates for the short marinating time. Add generous amounts of powdered garlic, salt, paprika, pepper… your choices are endless.
I’ve been having cravings for these eggplants since I left Asunción. Time to run to the store and make some more…
Thanks Tania and the great cooks in Paraguay for their wonderful culinary inspiration always!!!!
KarmaFree Cooking 
I love the eggplant version of this. I was toying with using oat bran for breading these days.
CocoCooks… I think oatbran would work too!!!! The cool thing is that as long as you use pure oats, this recipe is gluten-free too!!
What a great recipe. I don’t use Mandolin’s either… I think they’re too cumbersome. Ha.
Bren, Mandolines have their place, but we need to use them with caution. I found out now, at least for this recipe, we don’t need to use them. I have already cut myself twice with my mandoline. not fun… 😦
Madelyn
The oatmeal does add a earthy, hearty boost of health as opposed to our usual favorite choice of panko crumbs. We should try mixing a bit of oat flour into our breadings.
DuoDishes, That’s a great idea to mix in oat flour or out bran into a regular breadcrumb or panko breadcrum crust. I might play arounf with it too… Thanks for the idea.
Madelyn.