Japanese Eggplant

This is not my garden, it's a friend's. This is Japanese eggplant. The fruit is long and slender, and much sweeter than regular eggplant. Plus the plant doesn't have big thorns on the fruit like regular eggplant does. No need to peel these, just slice them and saute. I also like to throw them into a salad. If you are going to cook eggplant, remember to give it a little saltwater bath first, otherwise, it turns icky brown when cooked.