This Egg-Dipped Eggplant Is My New Favorite Meal

My boyfriend, a Filipino-American, doesn't eat eggplant. He doesn't like the texture and says that it gives him a stomachache. For those reasons I had reluctantly given up cooking eggplant at home and would only occasionally order it out, since we usually plate-swap halfway through a meal. Thus, it was many years into our relationship before I discovered tortang talong, a simple Filipino dish that translates to omelet (i.e. torta) with eggplant (talong).

Bring the bold flavors of the Philippines to your dinner table.

The man had introduced me to arroz caldo, sinigang, and my favorite vinegar, but this all-purpose dish remained an unknown until I spotted it on a restaurant brunch menu a few months ago.

But while the dish is simple, it isn't as straightforward as it may sound. It's an egg-based dish, sure, but it isn't an omelet in the gently-cooked-never-browned French sense or the overstuffed, folded-over American sense. In the Philippines torta is an egg-based dish that can be either baked (similar to a frittata) or pan-fried and there are generally two types. Tortang giniling are round discs of beaten egg studded with ground meat or, sometimes, cooked vegetables, that more closely resemble stuffed pancakes than American omelets.

The eggplant version, tortang talong, is made by first broiling or roasting whole Asian eggplants over an open flame until blackened on the outside. The charred eggplants are then covered in plastic so that they steam, which loosens the skin. Next, the eggplants are peeled and the softened flesh is lightly flattened and dipped into beaten egg, which has sometimes been whisked with flour or cornstarch (although my favorite version, from the new cookbook I Am a Filipino, has neither) and is sometimes seasoned with a bit of fish sauce. The battered eggplants are then pan-fried until the egg has formed a brown, crisp crust on the outside which contrasts with the spongy set egg and creamy eggplant flesh on the inside.

In I Am a Filipino—which was written by the proprietors of that restaurant I mentioned above—the authors suggest dotting the top side of the eggplant with lump crabmeat while the first side cooks (just as you might dot blueberries over a cooking pancake). The crabmeat is a luxurious addition, and truly delicious. But it's not necessary, and you could also top the eggplants with cooked crumbled sausage, chopped smoked salmon, or diced tomatoes instead.

Asian eggplants are best for this preparation because they have fewer seeds, and since they're smaller than the more common globe eggplant, they make a perfect serving for one. Draped over a plate of garlic fried rice and dashed with fish sauce or hot sauce, it makes for an amazing savory breakfast that takes less than 30 minutes to prepare but is filled with contrasts in flavor and texture.

I also love this dish because it can be put on hold at any point during the process of making it: keep a stash of charred eggplants in the fridge to quickly peel, flatten, dip, and pan-sear; serve over roasted vegetables or under a mushroom ragout for an easy vegetarian dinner. Or make a batch of fully cooked tortang talong and keep in the fridge to slice and toss over a lunch salad (I think the dish is equally good cold). If you do want to reheat a cold tortang talong, just slide it into the microwave for 30 to 60 seconds—you'll lose out on the crisp edge, but the spongy egg and smoky, tender eggplant underneath will still keep you coming back for more, whether your significant other likes it or not.

Eggplant Omelet (Tortang Talong)

Want more eggplant dinner ideas: