New Food Moment:: Tortang Talong

I tried making my own version of the Tortang Talong we ate at Masarap Restaurant.

I'm guessing that 'tortang' came from the word 'torta' because in the Philippines, 'torta' refers to a kind of omelette made with eggs, ground meat and sometimes minced onion and potato. 'Talong' on the other hand means eggplant. Hmmmm, sounds like 'terung' which is eggplant in Bahasa Malaysia.

As I'm a clueless wonder in the kitchen, I had to not only google the recipe, but find a video to demo how to cook it. Thanks to YouTube, I was able to come up with this really simple recipe for Tortang Talong for 2.

Ingredients:

• 3 cloves garlic - peeled and grated. Yes, I usually grate my garlic. I love the aroma but hate to eat chunks of it
• half a bowl of lean pork meat - minced
• 2 medium size eggs - beaten
  
• 1/4 bell pepper - diced
• 1 potato - grated
• 1 small carrot - grated
• 2 medium size eggplants
  
• 2 teaspoon of plain white flour
• 1/2 cube of chicken stock for seasoning
• oil for frying

1. Wash the eggplants and grill them until the skin becomes black.
2. Once done, peel the burnt skin off and set aside
3. In a large bowl, mix well the pork, bell pepper, potato, carrot, garlic and chicken stock
4. Heat about 2 teaspoon of oil in a frying pan and saute item (3) until cooked
5. Remove from heat and transfer them into a bowl
   
6. Divide beaten eggs into 2. Pour half onto a plate and the other half into the meat mix, pour the flour in and mix well
   
7. On another plate, use a fork to press the eggplants so that they become flat (I should have taken a picture here but by this time, my little Mia who was in her walker has grabbed hold of my chunky calf and is making a lot of noises. Yes, I got distracted)
8. Dip the eggplants into the remaining eggs. Make sure you get eggs on both side of each eggplant
   
9. Place meat on top of each eggplant
10. Slide each eggplant gently onto the frying pan (with a bit of hot oil - just enough so that the eggplant don't stick to the frying pan) and just pan fry on each side until they are golden brown
    

There you have it, Tortang Talong, ready to be served. The bottom one is a little bit messy but tastes delicious all the same.

When my husband came home and saw the Tortang Talong, his reaction was "Wah... my darling cook Filipino food now!" Hmmmmm, I'm trying darling. Trying.