Tortang Talong

This is the classic tortang talong recipe. But look out for the tip at the end of the post.

Ingredients :
250 g. of ground lean pork
1 tbsp. of finely minced garlic
1/2 c. of finely chopped onions
3/4 c. of coarsely chopped tomatoes
1 bell pepper, finely chopped
4 eggs, beaten
1 tbsp. of flour
4-5 talong (eggplants)
salt and pepper
cooking oil


Cooking procedure :
Mix together all the ingredients except the eggplants and the cooking oil.
Cook the eggplants (boil, steam, grill or broil) until soft but not mushy. Peel off the skins, leaving the stems intact. Using a fork, flatten the meat of the eggplants. Divide the pork mixture into as many eggplants you prepared. Place the mixture on the flattened eggplants, patting the meat to make sure it is compact.
Heat a skillet or wok. Add about 2 tbsp. of cooking oil and heat until smoking. Carefully slide one stuffed eggplant onto the hot oil. Cook over medium-high heat, about 5-7 minutes on each side or until golden brown. Add more cooking oil as you cook a new eggplant.
Serve with catsup.

If you want a really special tortang talong, lay a slice of cheese on the flattened eggplant before adding the pork mixture on top.