Cook and Drink

Having made Banana Ketchup, we were keen to explore what kind of food would combine well with it. Monch Weller wrote us: It’s often paired with fried food here in the Philippines – spring rolls (both meat and vegetable versions), fried chicken, and eggplant omelette.
The ketchup paired nicely with vegetarian rolls, but not as well as hot sweet and sour sauce.
We decided to make an eggplant omelette, known as Tortang Talong in the Philippines. The eggplant is grilled, peeled, flattened, dipped in an egg mixture and fried in oil. The outside crispy and brown, the inside soft and moist. Best to use the long and slender purple variety, for instance Chinese or Japanese eggplant.
Our eggplant was a standard eggplant, large and oblong. Very different in size and shape compared to the one used in the Philippines. We were not sure how we could turn our eggplant into Tortang Talong. Slice it? Fan it? Or mash it and add the eggplant to the egg mixture?

What You Need

• 1 regular or Italian Eggplant
• 2 Eggs
• Small Garlic Clove
• Black Pepper
• (optional) Salt
• Oil

What You Do

1. Heat your oven to 230°C or 450°F
2. Poke the eggplant with a fork. This allows for steam to escape
3. Place the eggplant on lightly oiled aluminium foil
4. Roast the eggplant for 30-40 minutes, depending on the size
5. Let cool
6. Peel of the skin
7. Mash the eggplant, but not too much
8. Combine eggs, salt (if using) and pepper
9. Beat the mixture well
10. Add the mashed eggplant. We used 2/3 of our eggplant. Combine
11. Add grated garlic and mix again
12. Add oil to a small skillet, set to medium heat
13. Add the mixture and fry until brown
14. Flip the omelette and fry the other side until brown
15. Slice the omelette and serve immediately
16. Serve with banana ketchup

PS

When we can buy a long slender eggplant, we will prepare the original Tortang Talong. To be continued!