Tortang Talong: Filipino Charred Eggplant Omelet

The smoke of charred eggplant, sealed inside an egg

Scorch an eggplant's skin on a quiet morning and the smell is nothing like miso soup or ordinary grilled eggplant. It is slightly sweet and slightly smoky, and before you have even peeled it you want a bowl of white rice. Coat it in beaten egg and lay it in a pan, and the soft flesh puffs up inside the egg while only the edges set thin and crisp.

Tortang talong is the Filipino omelet of charred eggplant. Talong means eggplant, and a torta is a flat dish held together with egg. At home it is often eaten at breakfast or lunch with rice, and with banana ketchup, a vinegar-soy dip, calamansi and tomato it becomes a full meal on one plate.

The hard part is not the ingredients but the heat. Char the eggplant first to bring out sweetness and smoke. Keep the egg thin, so the shape of the eggplant shows through. Cook over medium heat, and once the edge of the egg begins to set, stop poking at it. Follow those three rules and even a long eggplant and eggs from an ordinary supermarket will take you most of the way to the Philippine version.

If adobo (in Japanese) and sinigang are the doorway to Filipino sourness and braising, tortang talong is the doorway to the family breakfast. It is not a celebration platter like pancit canton. But the strength of Filipino home cooking is right here: one eggplant wrapped in egg becomes a main dish that makes the rice disappear.

Background: charred eggplant, egg and rice at the home table

Tortang talong is an unpretentious dish found in Filipino eateries and homes. In encyclopedia terms it is "an omelet made by dipping roasted eggplant in egg and frying it," but once you eat it, it is unlike an ordinary omelet, tempura or grilled eggplant. The flesh stays soft and creamy, and the egg sets into a thin, fragrant coating.

Home recipes from Panlasang Pinoy and Kawaling Pinoy describe roasting the eggplant over an open flame, on a grill or under a broiler until the skin is black, then peeling it. This is the heart of the dish. You can make it with boiled eggplant, but once the smoky aroma is gone it drifts toward a plain soft-eggplant omelet.

In the Philippines the eggplant used is usually the long, slender purple kind. Long Asian eggplants are very close and are easier to work with than round, fat ones. If you use a round eggplant, cut it in half lengthwise before cooking: otherwise it gets too thick for the egg to set evenly.

There are regional and family differences as well. Some cooks stir-fry ground meat, onion and tomato and spoon it on top, in the relleno style; other days it is just eggplant and egg cooked lightly. This article builds on the easy basic version, with eggplant and egg as the stars, and introduces a ground-meat variation later.

Ingredients (serves 4): the basic version with long eggplant and eggs

This serves 4, with one eggplant per person. The amount is meant as a main dish eaten with rice, not a small side. For breakfast serve it as is; for dinner it sits well next to Bicol Express (in Japanese) or chicken inasal (in Japanese).

A small dish with some sourness cuts the richness of egg and oil. Even without banana ketchup, a soy-vinegar dip or coconut vinegar will tighten up the meal.

Because you cook the eggplants one at a time, a 26 to 28 cm skillet that keeps the egg in shape is easier to handle than a very wide wok.

Method: char over a flame, then coat in a thin layer of egg

Separate the charring from the egg frying. If you rush the eggplant into the egg while it is still hot, the heat sets the egg in patches. Peeling it, letting it cool a little and shaping it first is the more reliable way.

A decision table for getting closer to the original in a home kitchen

Tortang talong is not a dish where every ingredient must be Filipino. What you need to keep is charring the eggplant until it is sweet, keeping the egg thin, and eating it at the end with something sour or sweet-and-sour.

Banana ketchup is the sweet red sauce you often see on Filipino tables. If you can't find it, mix 3 tbsp regular ketchup, 1 tsp vinegar and a pinch of sugar for something a little closer. If you don't like a sweet sauce, make a small dish of 3 tbsp vinegar, 2 tsp soy sauce, 1 tbsp chopped onion and a little chili.

If you use a broiler or grill, cook the eggplant until the skin is properly charred. On a strong broiler the surface can go black while the inside stays firm. Check that the eggplant bends limply when pressed with chopsticks, and that the flesh under the skin looks moist and translucent.

For breakfast, leave the onion and garlic out of the egg and keep it light. For dinner, make the ground-meat version and set it next to kare-kare or sinigang, where it fills the gap between the meat dish and the vegetable dish.

What goes wrong: egg peeling away, watery eggplant, burning

Failures with tortang talong are almost always water and heat. With so few ingredients, a watery eggplant, an egg mixture that is too thick or a cold pan shows right away.

You don't need to add milk to make the egg fluffy. Tortang talong is not a thick omelet but charred eggplant held together with a thin coat of egg. If the mixture is too loose, it runs off around the eggplant first and the look and texture fall apart.

Conversely, egg that is too thin looks poor. After coating the eggplant and laying it in the pan, spoon just 1 tbsp of the leftover egg over the top, which keeps the shape while the edge browns.

Storage and reheating: cut small for the next day's lunch box

It is best fresh, but leftovers keep. Once cooled, wrap each one in plastic wrap or put them in a shallow airtight container and refrigerate. Eat them by the next day, and within 2 days at most. Because this is an egg dish, avoid leaving it at room temperature for long.

For reheating, a skillet beats a microwave. Without oil, warm it over low heat for 1 1/2 minutes per side. If the surface dries out too much, drip 1 tsp water against the side of the pan and cover for just 20 seconds. In a microwave, heat at 600 W for 40 to 60 seconds under loosely laid plastic wrap.

For a lunch box, reheat it thoroughly to the center in the morning, then let it cool before packing. Avoid it in summer, or use an ice pack. Keeping ketchup and vinegar sauce in a separate container prevents the egg from turning watery.

Leftovers cut small and laid over rice with a little soy-vinegar make a lunch. In a sandwich, ketchup with a little vinegar goes better with the sweetness of the eggplant than mayonnaise does.

Frequently asked questions

Q1. Can I make it without an open flame?

Yes. Cook on a broiler over medium heat, 5 minutes per side, or in a toaster oven at 230°C for 12 to 15 minutes. The aroma is milder than over a flame, but it is enough as long as the skin is black and the flesh is soft.

Q2. Do I have to peel off all the skin?

Peel off thick burnt skin. A few small black flecks left behind can be enjoyed as fragrance. But a lot of burnt skin turns bitter and makes the egg harder to coat.

Q3. I don't like fish sauce. Can I make it without?

Yes. Substitute 1/2 tsp salt and 1 tsp soy sauce. That said, just 1 tsp of fish sauce suddenly makes an egg dish suit rice. If you are wary of it, try half the amount.

Q4. When do I add the ground meat?

Stir-fry the ground pork, onion and tomato first over medium heat, let it cool a little, then mix it into the egg. If you mix raw ground meat into the egg and cook it, the egg sets first and it is hard to confirm that the meat is cooked.

Q5. Can I boil the eggplant instead?

You can get the shape, but the aroma is weaker. If you truly can't use a flame or a broiler, steam the eggplant, peel it, brown the surface lightly in a skillet to cook off water, and then put it in the egg mixture.

Q6. What do I serve with it to make it feel Filipino?

It goes well with sour sinigang, soy-and-vinegar adobo (in Japanese) and the celebration noodles pancit canton. For breakfast, garlic rice, tomato and a small dish of vinegar are enough.

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