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Ensaladang Talong Recipe

Carrine Samantha Updated Filipino Kitchen

ensaladang pako recipe

A flavorful and refreshing eggplant dish featuring roasted eggplant topped with a vegetable mix

ensaladang pako recipe

Filipino Kitchen · Appetizer

Ensaladang Talong Recipe

A flavorful and refreshing eggplant dish featuring roasted eggplant topped with a vegetable mix

Prep
15 min
Cook
25 min
Total
40 min
Yield
4 servings

Ingredients

Units

Method

Cooking the Eggplant

  1. First, let’s start with the eggplants. Brush a little oil onto the skin of each eggplant to coat them.

  2. Next, fire up your grill or turn on your gas range. If you have multiple burners, you can use 2-3 of them, depending on your comfort level. Using a pair of tongs, roast the eggplants over the open flame for about 10-12 minutes until they become charred, blistered, and wrinkly. Remember to turn and flip the eggplants to ensure even cooking on all sides.

  3. Once the eggplants have a nice char and are soft to the touch, you can check their doneness by poking the thickest parts with a fork. If they’re cooked through, it’s time to move on.

  4. Allow the roasted eggplants to rest and cool for 5-10 minutes. Simply leave them covered in foil.

Preparing the Dressing

  1. Mix together vinegar, sugar, and pepper according to your taste preferences. Feel free to adjust the quantities as needed.

  2. Prepare your toppings by dicing the tomatoes, onions, and apple mangoes (if using). Add them to the dressing and set aside.

  3. Now, let’s move on to assembling the salad. You have two options:

Assembly Option 1

  1. Once the eggplants have cooled down, carefully slice them in the center and open them up, resembling a butterfly. You can also use a spoon to gently chop up the eggplant flesh in the center. The skin acts as a bowl or container. Repeat this step for the remaining eggplants. If you encounter any tough eggplant flesh, check the notes below for some tips.

  2. Spoon the vinegar dressing with the tomatoes and other toppings over the eggplants. Sprinkle some cilantro on top. Now you can enjoy the ensaladang as a delightful starter or side dish with your favorite main course. If you’re interested, you can explore more Filipino recipes here.

Assembly Option 2

  1. Once the eggplants have cooled, peel off the skin and cut the flesh into shorter pieces (as the strands can be long). Mix everything together in a bowl, including the dressing, tomatoes, onions, mangoes, and cilantro.

Ensaladang Talong Recipe – An eggplant seems like a rather plain vegetable for some. If you are not used to the vegetable, you may think there is not much you can do with it. However, in Filipino cuisine, you’ll find there are several ways you can cook eggplant. Examples of this include Tortang Talong and Poqui Poqui. Eggplants are also great alternatives for some classic Filipino dishes like Adobong Talong and Vegan Kare-Kare. If you’re looking to enjoy something refreshing and different, this is where Ensaladang Talong comes in.

The name of the dish literally translates to eggplant salad. It mainly features roasted eggplant topped with a refreshing and flavorful mixture of tomatoes, onions, and some mangoes. It’s a great starter dish to any meal and the mixture you top the eggplant with is not limited to what’s listed. If you want to try out this dish, you should test out this Ensaladang Talong Recipe

Other Notes for an Ensaladang Talong Recipe

The dish is best enjoyed when it’s freshly made or chilled. However, if you have any leftovers or want to prepare it in advance, you can store the mixed ensaladang talong with the dressing in the fridge for 3-5 days. Just keep in mind that the tomatoes might release some of their liquid as the salad sits, but it won’t affect the taste. Speaking of the tomatoes, they may be the classic topping of this dish but you can add in other salad toppings.

Aside from this, there are some things to note about the eggplant. Sometimes, when you slice the eggplants, you may notice that some parts have turned brown and are slightly tough. No need to worry! This usually happens when the eggplants are slightly undercooked, and it shouldn’t be a problem.

If you want to try out other salad recipes, check out our Channa Chat Salad Recipe. You can also try other vegetable dishes like Suam na Mais.

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