Another tapas recipe from Spain.

I’ve talked on and on about all the wonderful tapas we had on our trip to Spain and here is yet another recipe that I have tried.

I love tapas and you can turn just about any appetizer into a tapas. Make small portions and serve on small plates and you have a tapas. This tapas just happens to be made from eggplant and is drizzled with honey and will definitely be a favorite of your guests.

Hot out of the fry pan and drizzled with honey.

I’m not sure when I actually first had eggplant but I know it wasn’t anytime before I was about 40 years old. It’s hard to believe I had never eaten eggplant and it wasn’t a vegetable my dad ever grew in his garden (and he grew just about everything). Probably the first recipe I tasted using this dark purple, night shade vegetable was Eggplant Parmesan at some Italian restaurant and I now make Eggplant Caponata, PF Chang’s recipe for spicy eggplant and several other recipes.

One night at a tapas bar in Seville (our favorite bar) we kept ordering tapas that we saw other people ordering. Since we couldn’t read or speak any Spanish we just went by how something looked and said “we’ll have that”. I really thought this dish was zucchini chips but when I looked up the word later that night, I found out that it was eggplant and that the drizzle was honey.

It wasn’t hard to figure out how to make this dish since it was just fried eggplant. I debated on the coating whether to use a batter or bread crumbs but remembered that the one we had in Spain had a very light coating so I went the egg/bread crumbs route and ended up with a delicious appetizer.

I would recommend getting small eggplants, graffiti or Japanese eggplant so the skin will be tender.  I know you will love this recipe if you will give it a try.

Try and find a very small eggplant or use a Japanese eggplant.

I love my breading trays. They overlap each other and work nicely for any kind of breading jobs you may have.

Breadcrumbs made the perfect light coating. Next time I may add a little fresh thyme to the crumbs.

These fry up very quickly.

Drain on cooling rack (without paper towels).

Fried Eggplant Chips with Honey Drizzle

1 small eggplant (or Japanese), cut in half lengthwise and sliced very thinly
2 eggs, beaten well
1 cup breadcrumbs (or seasoned breadcrumbs)
honey
oil for frying

Slice the eggplant lengthwise and slice very thinly. I tried using a mandoline but that did not work that well so, using a very sharp knife, I sliced by hand.

Dip the eggplant into the beaten egg and then coat with bread crumbs.

Heat the oil to 375° and fry the breaded eggplant slices until crisp and brown. Drain on cooling rack (without paper towels). Put on individual plates or large platter and drizzle with honey. Serve immediately.