Hi Nancy, I cook alot of eggplant, as I cook mostly Italian dishes. Almost all call for breaded and fried eggplant. I use a extra virgin olive oil. Also after frying each piece (pieces) I drain on a piece of paper towel on a plate, with paper towel on the top weighted down by another plate. When the next pieces in the pan are finished frying, I remove drained pieces from plate, replace with clean paper towel and repeat until all is fried and drained. My one Aunt puts hers in a colander after frying and presses out excess oil, and then puts on paper towel. Hope this will help. Patty