Mini Eggplants. Types, Photos

The world of vegetable crops never ceases to amaze with its diversity. So eggplants today amaze and delight in their assortment of varieties more and more. It would seem that dark blue, green, white, brown, elongated, pear-like, completely round - what else can they impress? It turns out there is something - small size! Loved by many, blue ones can be not just the usual shapes and sizes, but very tiny, no more than 2.5 cm in diameter.

Content:

• Where did mini eggplants come from?
• What are they - these cute kids
• What our market offers

Where did mini eggplants come from?

The birthplace of the smallest eggplant is Asia and Africa. It is here, and most of all in Thailand and India, that they can be found in several forms and in a wide variety of colors and shades. And despite the fact that mini eggplants are not the only delicacy, but only a few varieties out of about four hundred others, for many they are the best choice among the vegetable variety.

What are they - these cute kids

At first glance, it is quite difficult to recognize the culture we are used to in the plucked fruits of mini-eggplants - these kids are very small and unusually colored. Green, yellow, white, they rather resemble some kind of overseas fruits or even berries than well-known vegetables. However, looking closely, you can see the tiny sepals, and the characteristic structure of the skin, and recognize the familiar smell.

The smallest representatives of this group are the so-called Pea or Cherry eggplant common in Thailand (Pea Eggplant). They got their name due to their very small size and absolutely green color. They are plucked unripe, or rather at the stage of the ovary, and are appreciated for the pungency and peculiar bitterness, which piquantly saturate the curry sauce and figure well in pickled form. During heat treatment, small fruits tend to burst on the tongue, spreading in the mouth with the taste of a spicy sauce.

Somewhat larger, the eggplant is light round or, as the Thais call it, the “White Eggplant”. He earned such a nickname for his size - the size of a small chicken egg. Its white-green color indicates the stage of technical maturity, while yellow or violet indicates full ripeness. The skin of round white eggplant is tender, thinner than that of the varieties we are accustomed to from China; the pulp consists of many small grains. It is because of this structure that mini-eggplants are plucked unripe, otherwise it is simply impossible to eat these bones.

Green Thai eggplant Kermit is only 3-5 cm in diameter. They grow in the form of meter bushes and bear fruit all year round. Their peel is colored unevenly - in a white strip. When fully ripe, they turn yellow. This variety is eaten raw, but if desired, it is added to various dishes.

There is another type of mini eggplant in Thailand. It resembles in shape small purple cucumbers, up to 10 cm long and no more than 3.5 cm thick. Due to the uneven color, its fruits look inconspicuous, often crumpled, but gourmets recognize this species as the best of its brothers.

In Africa, eggplant is common, the fruits of which can be easily confused with tomatoes. It is called Turkish Orange and is a bush with bright red or orange mini-eggplants, reaching a diameter of only 5 cm. It has many varieties and each of them is surprising in color.

What our market offers

In our seed market, you can also find a large number of mini-eggplant hybrids. For example: Frant F1, Nancy F1, Ophelia F1, Mantle.

However, they are mostly perceived as decorative or plants for windows and balcony boxes. But these are ordinary eggplants in an unusually small form, which are not only worth our attention, but also deserve to be favorites in the kitchen. They are fried, stewed, eaten raw, taken as a basis for salads. But most importantly, they never cease to amaze and conquer - after all, what is unusual always arouses interest!