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Aroy Mak Mak

Thai Eggplant

มะเขือเปราะ

Makheua pro: small, round and crunchy, for curries and nam prik.

Thai Eggplant

Thai round eggplants are golf-ball sized, usually pale green with white or darker stripes. They are crunchy and slightly bitter raw, and when cooked they soften but keep a little bite, soaking up the curry around them. They are a very different vegetable from the large purple aubergine.

Pronunciationma-keua bproh
FlavourMildly bitter, grassy; crisp raw, tender-firm cooked
Used inGreen curry, red curry, nam prik dips, sour curries
SubstituteSmall Italian or Japanese aubergines, cut into chunks

Thai eggplants at a glance

  • Round eggplant (makheua pro, “crisp eggplant”): golf-ball sized, green and white, for curries and eating raw.
  • Pea eggplant (makheua puang): tiny, bitter, in clusters; see its own guide.
  • Long green eggplant (makheua yao): slender and light green, softer, for grilling and the smoky salad yam makheua yao.
  • Yellow eggplant (makheua khai): small, egg-shaped and yellow, mostly in the north and northeast.

How to cook with it

In green and red curries, add the quartered eggplants once the curry is simmering; they take 6–10 minutes to soften. In the north and northeast they are grilled or boiled for dips. Raw, they come in the basket of vegetables served with nam prik kapi and other chilli dips.

Preparing them

Cut off the stem and quarter or halve them just before cooking. The flesh browns within minutes of cutting; if you need to wait, drop the pieces into a bowl of salted water. The small seeds inside are edible.

Buying and storing

Choose firm, heavy eggplants with shiny skin and fresh green caps. They keep for about a week in the fridge in a paper bag. Frozen whole Thai eggplants are sold in Asian grocers and work well in curries.

Cook’s tip

Do not salt or pre-cook Thai eggplants for curries. Their slight crunch is the point; add them to the simmering curry and stop when a knife slides in easily.

More Vegetables

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Recipes with Thai Eggplant