Tortang talong (Filipino eggplant omelette)
Soft, smoky eggplant pressed flat and fried in a golden egg coat, eaten over rice with ketchup the way Filipino families have for generations.
- 50 min total
- 35 min hands-on
- A little more hands-on
- Serves 2
- About $2.32 a serving
- 750 calories
- Vegetarian
- Gluten-free
- Dairy-free
Dolly says: Read the steps once before you start. Everything goes smoother after that.
Ingredients
For 2 servings.
- 1 cup jasmine rice
- 1 eggplant, about 1 pound
- 4 large eggs
- ¼ cup ketchup, for serving
From your pantry
- 1¼ cups water
- ½ tsp salt
- ¼ tsp black pepper
- ¼ tsp garlic powder
- 3 tbsp vegetable oil, divided
Each serving has about 750 calories, 22 g protein, 98 g carbs and 31 g fat, and costs about $2.32 at typical US grocery prices. Both are estimates from what the recipe uses.
Missing something?
- No jasmine rice? Long-grain white rice or basmati rice works.
Steps
Tap an underlined word for a quick explanation.
the rice in a strainer until the water runs almost clear. Put it in a small with the water and over high heat.
Rinse. Rinsing means running cold water over rice or canned beans in a strainer while you swish them around. It washes off loose starch and can liquid, so rice cooks up fluffy and beans taste clean.
How you’ll know: The water running out goes from cloudy to mostly clear; it doesn’t have to be perfect.
Saucepan. A saucepan is a pot with tall, straight sides and one long handle. It’s for things that need depth, like rice, sauces or a few boiled eggs.
How you’ll know: The food fills it about halfway, leaving room to bubble without spilling over.
Bring to a boil. It means heating a liquid on high until it’s fully boiling before you move on. A lid on the pot gets it there faster, which makes it a good moment to chop something.
How you’ll know: Big bubbles break all over the surface, and they keep coming when you lift the lid.
High heat
Cover, turn the heat to low and cook 15 minutes, then leave it covered off the heat while you make the eggplant.
Low heatTimer: 15 min
the stem off the eggplant and cut it into 4 slabs about ½ inch thick.
Trim. Trimming means cutting off the parts you don’t eat, like stem ends, tough bits or thick fat. It keeps chewy or bitter bits out of the finished dish.
How you’ll know: What’s left is the good part, with no dry ends, woody stems or thick white fat.
Lengthwise. Lengthwise means cutting along the long side, from stem to tip, which gives long pieces. Crosswise is the other way, straight across the middle, which gives short, round ones.
How you’ll know: Lengthwise halves of a zucchini look like two little canoes; crosswise pieces look like coins.
Dolly’s tip: Filipino eggplants are long and thin. Slabs cut from a regular eggplant give you the same flat, tender shape.Lay the slabs in a large dry , cover, and cook over medium heat for 4 to 5 minutes per side, until a fork slides in easily and they have spots.
Skillet. A skillet is a frying pan: wide and flat with low, sloped sides. The shape lets steam escape, so food browns instead of stewing.
How you’ll know: It’s the pan you’d fry an egg in, and a 10 or 12 inch one handles most recipes.
Char. Charring means cooking over very high heat until some spots turn black. Those dark spots add a smoky, slightly bitter flavor that balances sweet or rich food.
How you’ll know: You see black spots and blisters in places, while most of the surface keeps its own color.
Medium heatTimer: 9 min
Dolly’s tip: They need to be completely soft, or they won’t flatten in the next step.Move the slabs to a board and press each one flat with the back of a fork so it fans out a little.
the eggs, salt, pepper and garlic powder in a wide, shallow dish.
Whisk. Whisking means beating quickly with a whisk or a fork to blend things together. It smooths out lumps and mixes eggs, oil or sauces evenly.
How you’ll know: It all looks one even color and texture, with no streaks or lumps.
Wipe out the , add half the oil and heat over medium until it . Dip 2 slabs in the egg, turn to coat, lay them in the pan and spoon a little more egg over each.
Skillet. A skillet is a frying pan: wide and flat with low, sloped sides. The shape lets steam escape, so food browns instead of stewing.
How you’ll know: It’s the pan you’d fry an egg in, and a 10 or 12 inch one handles most recipes.
Shimmering oil. Oil shimmers when it’s hot enough to cook: its surface looks rippled and wavy, like heat over a road. That’s your cue to add the food, just before the oil would start to smoke.
How you’ll know: The oil looks wavy and runs thin like water when you tilt the pan, with no smoke yet.
Medium heat
Cook until underneath, about 3 minutes, then flip and cook 2 to 3 minutes more, until the egg is set with no wet spots. Repeat with the rest of the oil, slabs and egg.
Golden brown. Golden brown is the color of good toast, somewhere between yellow and light brown. It means the outside is cooked and crisp but not burnt.
How you’ll know: It looks like toast and smells toasty; dark brown with a bitter smell means it went too far.
Medium heatTimer: 3 min
Dolly’s tip: Any egg left in the dish can go right over the second batch.Food safety: For the safest eggs, cook until the whites are fully set and the yolks begin to thicken. Dishes made with eggs are done at 160°F.
Serve over the rice with ketchup for dipping.
Plan this in Dollop, and get the grocery list
Dollop puts this dinner on a night that suits your week, lists only what you still need to buy, and walks you through each step while you cook.
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