Roasted smokey eggplants with tomatoes, onions, some mangoes, and fresh cilantro. Ensaladang Talong or Roasted Eggplant Salad is a classic Filipino starter or side dish, that’s best enjoyed with fried food.
WHAT’S ENSALADANG TALONG?
Ensalada literally means “salad” in Filipino, while talong is eggplant. There are many different ensalada recipes in Filipino cuisine, but one of the most common and popular ones is Ensaladang Talong, or eggplant salad.
The term ‘ensaladang’ is used more as a verb–adding the ‘-ang’ at the end is used as a verb for in this case, a cooking/preparation method.
Ensaladang Talong or Roasted Eggplant Salad is something I loved to eat growing up with some fried fish to balance out the fried food but it really goes well with anything!
Tomatoes and onions are the classic pairing to ensaladang talong.
Roasting the eggplants until the skin is charred and blistered cooks the eggplant down until its silky on the inside.
Paired with a Filipino-style vinaigrette and fresh tomatoes, onions and some mangoes (which are optional), you have yourself a deliciously refreshing and hearty Eggplant Salad or Ensaladang Talong at the same time.
PREPARE YOUR EGGPLANTS
Brush some oil to coat the skin of your eggplants. I used 4 small Chinese eggplants. These are thin and long so it’s easier to evenly cook them.
ROASTING THE EGGPLANT
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 10-15 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.
Once the eggplants are blistered and charred on the outside, the eggplants should be soft to the touch. Leave the eggplants to rest and cool for 5-10 minutes to allow these to continue cooking on the inside and so it’ll be easier to handle later on.
DRESSING AND TOPPINGS/MIX-INS
Meanwhile, prepare the dressing by mixing together the vinegar, sugar, and pepper. Feel free to adjust to your taste. Add the diced tomatoes, onions, and apple mangoes (if using). Mix together and set aside.
MANGOES
For this recipe, I used apple mangoes. Apple mangoes have this nice crunch and tartness to them, which I love for salads. If you don’t have mangoes to use for this recipe, tomatoes & onions are the classic pairing so it’s totally fine!
NOTE: Tomatoes and onions are the classic mix-ins/toppings for ensaladang talong but you’re free to add in other salad toppings that you’d like!
PREPARING THE ROASTED EGGPLANT SALAD OR ENSALADANG TALONG
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 in the center. The skin here acts as like a bowl/container. Repeat this for the rest of the eggplants.
It’s not a problem if you encounter some tough eggplant flesh that are brown when you cut them up. This happens when the eggplants are slightly undercooked so this shouldn’t be a problem.
I personally enjoy eggplants with a bite for ensaladang talong and don’t like them overcooked and too silky. But this is a personal preference so you can cook your eggplants longer if you don’t like and tougher bites.
Scoop over the vinegar mixture 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.
Option 2: mixing everything
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.
TO ENJOY YOUR ENSALADANG TALONG
This is best enjoyed freshly made but tou 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.
You can enjoy this freshly made or refrigerate for a few hours so its cold! enjoy! 🙂
MORE FILIPINO VEGAN RECIPES:
- Adobo
- Tokwa’t Baboy
- Filipino Kaldereta or ‘Meat’ Stew
- Mushroom Tocino
- Filipino Fried Garlic Rice
- Filipino Lumpiang Gulay or Fried Vegetable Spring Rolls
- Filipino “Pork” Barbecue
- Crispy Tofu Sisig
- Tofu and Mushroom Salpicao
Ensaladang Talong (Filipino-Style Roasted Eggplant Salad)
Equipment
- Tongs
Ingredients
Eggplants
- 350 g Chinese eggplant , I used 4 small eggplants
- Neutral oil for brushing
Dressing and Toppings/Mix-Ins
- 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
- You can see the step-by-step images on how to prepare this above.
Eggplants
- Brush some oil to coat the skin of your eggplants.
- 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.
- 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.
Dressing and Toppings/Mix-Ins
- 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.
Preparing the Salad (2 Options!)
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- You can enjoy this freshly made or refrigerate for a few hours so it's cold.
Storage
- 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.
Notes
Eggplants
- Brown eggplant flesh – you may notice some parts of the eggplant that are brown and tough when you slice them. This happens when the eggplants are slightly undercooked so this shouldn’t be a problem. I personally enjoy eggplants with a bite for ensaladang talong and don’t like them overcooked and too silky. But this is a personal preference so you can cook your eggplants longer if you don’t like and tougher bites.
- You can also check out for any signs of worms, since some eggplants can have worms inside. If this is the case, discard your eggplant of chop off the part that has been eaten.
Toppings
- Tomatoes and onions are the classic mix-ins/toppings for ensaladang talong but you’re free to add in other salad toppings that you’d like!
NUTRITIONAL INFO
YOU CAN PIN THESE IMAGES:
