Ensaladang Talong (Filipino-Style Roasted Eggplant Salad)

Ingredients

• 350 g Chinese eggplant (, I used 4 small eggplants)
• Neutral oil (for brushing)
• 3/4 cup distilled white vinegar
• 4-6 tbsp cane sugar (adjust to desired sweetness)
• Freshly ground black pepper
• 4 small tomatoes (diced)
• 2 small red onion (diced)
• 1 cup diced fresh apple mangoes (optional)
• 1 bird’s eye chili (sliced (optional for heat))
• Chopped cilantro for topping

Instructions

1. 1

   You can see the step-by-step images on how to prepare this above.

2. 2

   --- Eggplants ---

3. 3

   Brush some oil to coat the skin of your eggplants.

4. 4

   Prepare your grill or turn on your gas range. If you have a few burners, then you can use 2-3 depending on how many you can handle. Using a pair of tongs over open fire, roast the eggplants for 10-12 minutes or until these are charred, blistered, and wrinkly. You will need to turn and flip your eggplants around. Keep an eye out on these and rotate the eggplants to cook all sides evenly.

5. 5

   Once the eggplants are blistered and charred on the outside, the eggplants should be soft to the touch. You can puncture your eggplant with a fork to see if the thickest parts are cooked through. Leave the eggplants foil for 5-10 minutes to allow these to rest and cool.

6. 6

   --- Dressing and Toppings/Mix-Ins ---

7. 7

   Meanwhile, prepare the dressing by mixing together the vinegar, sugar, and pepper. Feel free to adjust to your taste.Prepare your toppings. You can add the diced tomatoes, onions, and apple mangoes (if using) in the dressing. Set aside.

8. 8

   --- Preparing the Salad (2 Options!) ---

9. 9

   Option 1 (eggplant "boats"): Once the eggplants have cooled, slice in the centre and open up carefully to “butterfly”. Using a spoon you can also carefully chop up the eggplant flesh in the center. The skin here acts as like a bowl/container. Repeat this for the rest of the eggplants.See notes below if you encounter some tough eggplant flesh.

10. 10

    Scoop over the vinegar dressing with the tomatoes and other toppings over the eggplants. Top with some cilantro. Enjoy the ensaladang along as a starter or side dish with your favourite mains. Check out my Filipino recipes here.

11. 11

    Option 2 (everything mixed together): Peel the skin off the eggplants once it cools and cut up the eggplant flesh into shorter pieces (since the “strands” can be long) and mix these all up in a bowl with the dressing, tomatoes, onions, mangoes, and cilantro.

12. 12

    You can enjoy this freshly made or refrigerate for a few hours so it's cold.

13. 13

    --- Storage ---

14. 14

    This is best enjoyed freshly made or chilled/refrigerated but you can store ensaladang talong mixed together with the dressing for 3-5 days in the fridge. It’ll continue to soak the flavours but note that the tomatoes will release a lot of its liquid as it sits.