Spiralizing Eggplant Could Turn Out To Be Disastrous
Spiralizers came onto the culinary scene in 2015, according to Epicurious, because Americans apparently can't ever get enough spaghetti. Zucchini? Make it spaghetti. Carrots? Make it spaghetti. Summer squash? Make it spaghetti. In fact, Americans so deeply enjoy turning veggies into spaghetti, that the spiralizer was the "most-Googled" kitchen tool of 2019, per Food Network.
Needless to say, the spiralizing trend continues with a spiralizer for every budget. You can get a great spiralizer in 2022 for as little as $13, with electric spiralizers falling in the $50 range, and high-end spiralizers costing as much as $155. Combine all the spiralizer options with all the veggies you can turn into spaghetti noodles and the possibilities are truly endless.
That being said, not all veggies play nicely with spiralizers. When picking a vegetable to spiralize, you need to take into consideration its texture. English cucumbers are perfect for spiralizing, as they are firm enough to hold their shape even in noodle form, but eggplants are a whole other story.
Why you shouldn't try spiralizing an eggplant
Although it may be tempting to try spiralizing an eggplant, you might want to think twice. For starters, despite being sold alongside other veggies, the eggplant is actually a berry, per Thrive Cuisine. You wouldn't try spiralizing a raspberry, would you? No. It would just fall apart.
This, according to Allrecipes, is precisely why you shouldn't try spiralizing an eggplant. Thinly slicing an eggplant greatly diminishes its structural integrity, leaving you with an eggplant mess. That being said, a pile of failed eggplant noodles could come in handy for eggplant recipes, especially one that calls for eggplant as a ground meat substitute.
Another reason to avoid spiralizing eggplant is that eggplants are usually on the bigger side, meaning they don't fit too well in spiralizers. Per Inspiralized, it is possible to make eggplant noodles with a spiralizer, but you're going to be wasting a lot of eggplant in the process. Long story short, it's probably not worth the struggle, but hey, that's your call.