Tortang talong is my family’s all-time favorite breakfast paired with simple fried rice. As an Ilocano who normally plants vegetables in the backyard…this dish is always present at least once a week in our menu.

Eggplants are always accessible all year round in our home. All I have to do is go to our backyard and harvest medium-sized eggplants and voila! we have something for breakfast or lunch or dinner! My favorite way of cooking talong/eggplant is by grilling. The aroma is so much better when it’s grilled rather than boiled. Though, I also like to just boil the eggplant if it’s not yet too big or if it’s still young for there are still no seeds in it. Whether it’s grilled or boiled, as long as there’s a fish bagoong (digo ti buggoong) with kalamansi extract, it becomes a sumptuous meal for us already! Being a native Ilocano makes us appreciate simple food like this. So, here’s how I cook tortang talong.

Ingredients:
4 pcs. large eggplants (grilled and peeled)
4 pcs. medium sized eggs (beaten)
1 tsp. salt (added to the beaten eggs)
1/4 cup canola/vegetable oil for frying

Instructions:
1) Pour a little amount of oil in the pan. While the oil is being heated, dip one eggplant to a bowl of beaten eggs.
2) Under medium heat, fry the eggplant (dipped in the beaten eggs) for about 3-4 minutes, or until light brown, flipping it once.
3) While frying, pour in some of the beaten eggs on top of the eggplant, making sure that the eggplant is covered with egg mixture.
3) Repeat procedure 1 to 3 for the remaining three eggplants.
4) Tip: To reduce the oil in your eggplant omelet, put 2 sheets of paper towel on the plate where you’re going to put the cooked eggplant omelet.
5) Ready to serve. This is best paired with fried rice. 🙂