Eggplant Torta

In the Philippines, when you say torta, it usually means something mixed with scrambled eggs and then fried. Jai and Billy loves meat torta (usually a combo of minced beef and pork with cubes of potatoes and carrots). Me? I love eggplant torta.

Making eggplant torta is really simple. Just get two or three eggplants. Wash them and pierce all over with a fork (this is to let the steam out when you roast them and not have them go kablooey on you).

Roast the eggplants on top of your stove, or under the broiler until the skin is charred. Take a paperbag or plastic bag and put the eggplants inside (this will soften the skin to make it easy to peel later). After 15 minutes, take the eggplants out and peel off all the charred skin. You'll be left with the eggplant meat with the stalk still attached to it (don't get rid of this stalk, I'll show why later).

Now prepare your eggs. Take 2-3 eggs and scramble them. Now get a plate and put an eggplant on it. Mash the the meat until you get it to fan all over the plate. Put about 1/4 cup of scrambled egg onto and under the eggplant. Use the stalk to lift up the eggplant and to slide it onto a hot skillet with a little oil. Fry each side for about 3-4 minutes and then lift and put on a serving platter. Do the same with the other eggplants.

To serve the eggplants, just drizzle with ketchup (my kids preference) or with Maggi seasoning (my choice) or even with a light soy sauce like Kikkoman.