Tortang Talong (roasted, battered eggplant)

I really thought I had a blog post with a recipe about this already.  Upon review, I found out I did not! 

Tortang talong is a filipino dish, traditionally made by roasting whole eggplants directly on burning, hot coals.  The eggplant skins blister and the flesh cooks inside.  They are then covered to let sweat, which makes it easier to peel the skins off.  The skins are peeled,  the eggplant flesh is flattened, battered with an egg mixture, and pan-fried.  It's typically served with sides of rice and a tomato fish sauce salsa.

To save time and for added convenience,  I air fried my eggplant.  Poking holes all around the skin ensures that the eggplant won't explode during cooking.  I have been on a whole 30 journey, so I didn't eat this with rice.  Instead, I had a kale salad with olive oil and balsamic vinegar, topped with chicken salad and halved tomatoes, and a few sticks of celery. 

Without further adieu, here's my recipe for tortang talong.

Ingredients:

• 3 long eggplants
• 1 egg
• dash of salt
• dash of pepper
• dash of onion powder
• dash of garlic powder
• couple sprays of avocado oil

Instructions:

1. Rinse eggplants.
2. Poke holes through eggplant skins, all around.
3. Air fry for 30 minutes at 400 degrees.
4. Put eggplant in a closed container and let sweat for about 10 minutes.
5. Peel skins off eggplant and discard.
6. Flatten eggplant.
7. Beat egg with salt, pepper, onion powder, and garlic powder.
8. Coat eggplant with egg mixture.
9. Heat fry pan and spray with avocado oil.
10. Pan fry egg-battered eggplant, both sides.
11. Enjoy!

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IG post of this video: Tortang Talong (sped up for IG)
YouTube post of this video: Tortang Talong (full video, with captions)