Brinjal is also called eggplant.  Its scientific name is called Solanum melongena.  Chinese call it Qie2Zi3, and Malays call it Terung.  A hypermarket in Ipoh named the fat one as eggplant and the smaller size one as terung or brinjal to differentiate their types.  But actually eggplant is another name for brinjal and it means all types of brinjal.

We like to eat brinjals although it is a bit sticky like the ladies finger.  The long shaped brinjal is the most common and can be easily found in Kuching where as the other types can hardly be seen here.  We were excited when we saw so many types of brinjal in Ipoh.  Same as what we did to different types of apple, we bought one or two brinjals for each type.

Brinjal contains small and soft seeds which are edible.  Botanically the fruit of a brinjal plant is classified as a berry.  When I did some research on wikipedia, I finally know that why I get addicted to it.  It contains a very insignificant amount of   nicotinoid alkaloids, and that is why it tastes a bit bitter.  Do not worry too much about this because you need about 9kg of brinjal to have the same amount of nicotine as a cigarette.  No one is going to eat 9kg of brinjal within a day.

On the other hand, Brinjal is effective in the treatment of high blood cholesterol.  It is also a source of folic acid and potassium.

[The raw fruit can have a somewhat bitter taste, but becomes tender when cooked and develops a rich, complex flavor. Salting and then rinsing the sliced brinjal (known as “degorging”) can soften and remove much of the bitterness. Some modern varieties do not need this treatment, as they are less bitter. The brinjal is capable of absorbing large amounts of cooking fats and sauces, allowing for very rich dishes, but the salting process will reduce the amount of oil absorbed. The fruit flesh is smooth; as in the related tomato, the numerous seeds are soft and edible along with the rest of the fruit. The thin skin is also edible, so that the brinjal need not be peeled.] – quoted from Wikipedia.  :p

A fat brinjal labeled as eggplant in a hypermarket.

They are labeled as Terung Bulat which means Round-Shaped Brinjal.

Small White Eggplant.

Terung Merah-KG (Red Brinjal).  I don’t know what does it mean by KG, can you tell me?

Short Brinjal.

Long Brinjal or Terung Panjang.

This are the price tags for the brinjals above.

Even they are all brinjals but each of them has different shape and colour.  Just like human, even all of us are human but we have different colours of skin and eyes.  Basically everybody is the same.

Last week, our friend cooked some food and let us tasted them. We chat while we were eating, we talked about our senses. And a topic rose, “Sometimes, we actually eat with our eyes, ears and nose”. Can you believe it?

Why we said that we use our eyes to eat? It is because sometimes we can get bloated by just looking at the “ugly” food. We won’t feel that we want to eat the food because of its colour, shape or its outlook. Our minds have been fed with the food through our eyes and we chose not to continue. In the opposite way, a food in good shape can attract people to try them, it can be said that our eye has tasted the food before our mouths and tongues taste them.

We will not eat the food if we heard a negative comment on a certain food. For example, if we hear others said that the food is disgusting, or the food can cause you sickness or the food is prepared in an unhygienic way etc. The food have been eaten by our ears before they can reach our mouths.

For me, if I smell strange smell, I will give up the food immediately. I have a sensitive nose. Years ago, when I was a kid, my parents used a box that was previously used to store soap to store the rice. I can smell the soap in the rice and I am the only one who complaint. My parents, brothers and sisters did not sense it and did not believe it until a week later after the smell got stronger. I ate only a small portion every day because the smell made me dizzy and wanted to vomit. Luckily, they believed what I said at last.

It is a need for our eyes, ears and noses to try the food first before we actually put them in our mouth. Otherwise many unnecessary things will happen such as food poisoning. Some people would not even care about what they put into their own mouth. It would be dangerous. So do not be stingy to let our senses taste the food before we eat them. Another word, we should think carefully before we eat anything, as what a famous proverb in Chinese that sounds like this, “Sickness reaches us by our mouth, and troubles come out from our mouth.” (in Mandarin: Bing4Chong2Kou3Ru4, Huo4Chong2Kou3Chu1).

The other day, we bought a pack of five apples. However, I had one and Colin had one so now there are only three left. Oh wait a minute, there are actually four left. Why? Let me show you why.

This is why! This one happens to be the sixth apple. Of course, it can’t be eaten. It is being made from the “net bag” that supermarkets used to pack the fruits. Maybe some of you have known how to make this fake apple but we would like to demonstrate to you how it is transformed.

First, empty the bag. It looks like a balloon that has ran out of air.

Then, fold the opening of the net upwards.

After that, tuck the opening nicely to form an inverted umbrella. Don’t worry, we are almost there!

Next, fold the inverted umbrella upwards. It’s time to determine the size of the fake apple. You can control the size by adjusting the inverted umbrella folding. Now you must continue to fold it upwards until the tip.

Ta-da! The one on the right is our latest fake apple collection. Actually, there are also green and orange “net bags”. The green ones are for green apples whereas the orange ones are usually for oranges. Hope to get some of them soon.

So, next time when you buy fruits that have these “net bags”, do think twice before you dispose them. They can be recycled to pack other things or they definitely look lovely as decorations!