Berenjenas Fritas con Miel (Fried Eggplant With Orange Blossom Honey)

With their crisp outsides and tender, creamy insides, these fried eggplants are irresistible.

You won’t be able to stop eating these deep-fried eggplant strips. The combination of crisp outsides and tender, creamy insides makes this classic Spanish tapa totally irresistible.

I like cutting the eggplant, skin and all, into 4-inch sticks, but it’s just as delicious if you slice it into rounds. It just depends on how and when you’re serving it. As a first course, rounds would be great; as part of an array of tapas, where the dishes are mostly finger food, sticks work better.

You can use chickpea flour instead of regular wheat flour for a crunchier texture, and you can serve them with maple syrup if you can’t find the orange blossom honey.

Serves 6 as a tapa

• 2 medium eggplants
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 cup olive oil, for frying
• 1 teaspoon sea salt
• 1 cup orange blossom honey

Slice the eggplants into 1/2-inch sticks and put them in a large bowl with salted water for 15 minutes. Dry the eggplants and toss them with the flour to coat evenly.

In a large frying pan over medium heat, heat the olive oil until hot and just starting to smoke. Working in batches, fry the eggplant sticks until golden on all sides, and transfer to a paper-towel-lined plate to drain.

Arrange on a serving platter, season with salt, and drizzle with the honey on top. Serve immediately.