If you're wondering what these people were reacting to, it was a tweet from 全農広報部, the PR Department of Zen-Noh, Japan's National Federation of Agricultural Co-operative Associations (@zennoh_food).

As some grape Japan readers may recall, we've introduced the agricultural group's popular recipes before, which include everything from persimmon pudding, fried lettuce to takoyaki-style eggs.

In Japan, eggplants are in season from June to September, so it's the perfect time to enjoy them. This time, Zen-Noh introduced a convenient and delicious way of grilling this versatile vegetable.

They suggest grilling eggplant in a hot sandwich grill instead of frying it in a pan!

Cut the eggplant in half lengthwise and then in half widthwise, and cut a mesh-like slit in the skin.

Note: This recipe is intended for eggplants that can fit inside a hot sandwich grill, so it works best with eggplants small enough so that, when you cut them as indicated above, you end up with four quarters with skin that fit in the grill.

Also, instead of coating the hot sandwich grill with oil, toss the cut eggplant with oil in a bowl and then put them in the grill, so that they won't absorb excess oil.

If you cook your eggplant in a hot sandwich grill, the surface will be glossy and the flesh will be melt-in-your-mouth tender.

Just drizzle a bit of soy sauce for Japanese-style grilled eggplant, or scoop out the flesh to make some baba ganoush!

The PR Division representative in charge of the account admits, "I only use my hot sandwich grill for grilling eggplant!"

Grilling your eggplant this way means you don't need to worry about oil splattering and getting your kitchen dirty.

If you have a hot sandwich grill, why not give it a try?