help!



i have always made a great eggplant parmesan, but it was always ovo-veg and i have not come up with a perfect replacement for the egg wash i used for the breading.. i have tried egg replacer and a flour batter mixture, but it is just not the same. i think the egg wash was a barrier for the oil because now it is too greasy.. i guess i could bake the eggplant, but i would really rather come up with a good alternative for the egg wash..



here is the recipe :



make your fav spagetti sauce.



take a eggplant and slice into thin slices.



breading:

container 1: whole wheat flour seasoned with italian spices.

container 2: finely crushed whole wheat crackers

container 3: egg wash (help)



heat oil in frying pan. about a 1/2 deep of oil.



dip slices of eggplant in eggwash, flour, eggwash and then crushed crackers. fry until golden brown.



remove from pan and sprinkle with "parmesan cheese" .



do this for all slices of eggplant.



once all of the eggplant is fried place in a single layer on cookie sheet then cover each slice with a slice of "mozzerella cheese" put until broiler til "cheese" has melted..



put eggplant on a plate and top with the sauce.



yum!



so all i need is a way to keep the breading as yummy as it was ovo-veg.. i have replacement for the cheese, so now all i need is one for the egg!



(hope that recipe made sense it was off the top of my head)



so please help!

i always use soymilk. it works pretty well, though the temperature of the oil makes a difference too. you want it to be hot enough to seal the breading quickly before too much oil seeps in, but not so hot the breading burns...



this looks like a marvie recipe...thanks for sharing!



eta: what do you use for the mozzerella?

I thought it said 'breeding help.'

only you michael..



kreeli,



i use tofutti mozzerella slices..



i have tried just soymilk it is not sticky enough to make the crushed cracker stick. the egg is not heavy, so it is not noticed. when i have tried to use a batter or other wet stuff it is just not the same. i have considered using silken tofu beaten to a smooth liquid. i have no clue if it would work.

I'm glad you posted this question. I have been wondering the same thing....the one time I made eggplant parm I just used water to get the breadcrumbs to stick. It worked somewhat well, but I'm sure there's something better out there.

Have you tried flax seed egg replacer (1 Tb. flax seed blended with 3 Tb. water)? It's quite sticky, and I was reading in How it All Vegan last night that you can siv it to get the remaining chunks out and be left with the stickiness of it. (I haven't tried this, it's just a thought.)

That flax seed idea is brilliant. I bet that would work, and it wouldn't add any off flavors.



I'm pleased, too, oneness, that you've asked this question and posted that great recipe. Eggplant parm was always one of my favorite dishes before I was vegan. I haven't had it in a long time. My husband will be fatly stoked.

hehheh. i LOVE that!



oneness...hmmm..i've never breaded eggplant before, but the soymilk has always worked for me when it comes to tofu or seitan. maybe you could try blending it with a small amount of something starchy, like corn starch or tapicoa flour...?



otherwise, yeah, i agree, the flax might work (though i've never been a fan of the flax egg...too much dang work for me!)

try using the energy egg replacer

but instead of adding it to water, add it to soymilk



that should do the trick





Caroline

I don't know what what would work best, but when you find something that works will you bring me some for dinner? Next Tuesday will do nicely, thank you.

LOL ..........I thought this read



"Breeding help"





hehehhe ....sorry





Anyway, I haven't tried breading since going vegan (actually never did it before then for myself either although I used to do it alot in the restaurant I worked at so I know the traditional process)



I'd really like to try this ...I think I will this week! Tofu balls! :-D

i have used egg replacer with soymilk and it was still not right..

the difference is that with the egg wash the breading sticks well and forms a nice even coating on the eggplant, but everything else i use allows the eggplant to become somewhat greasy.



i will try flax egg..



thanks everyone..

Oneness: Please let me know how the flax egg works...I have the exact problem with my eggplant parm. I used soymilk, but now luck, it took almost my whole roll of papertowels to drain all the oil out of them suckers!