Adobong talong (eggplant)

We wanted to serve a Filipino dish to a guest last weekend. And what's more Filipino than adobo? Cooking adobo means stewing (traditionally meat) in vinegar. Vinegar tenderizes the meat and 'pickles' it so that it keeps good for some time without refrigeration. I remember bringing adobo for lunch during educational field trips in primary school. Most adobo dishes also use soy sauce and this gives the dish a nice salty-sour flavour.

Although adobo is traditionally a meat-based dish, there are adobo dishes using only vegetables. Next time you are craving for or are planning to serve adobo, why not try this eggplant adobo? The flavour of fried eggplant combines well with the distinctive sour-salty flavour of adobo. I prefer using the Asian eggplant which are longer and thinner, have a stronger taste and absorb more of the adobo sauce flavour than the 'European' eggplants. You can find them in Asian supermarkets in the Netherlands.

Serves 3 persons
Preparation time: 20 minutes

Ingredients

300 - 350 grams Asian eggplant (sliced into 2-inch chunks)
4 tbsp vegetable oil
4 cloves of garlic (finely chopped)
1 medium-sized onion (finely chopped)
1/2 cup vinegar
1/4 cup soy sauce
1/2 tbsp freshly grounded black pepper
1 dried chili (or 1 fresh Thai chili) (optional - only if you want a spicy version)

Preparation

1. Over medium heat, add vegetable oil and fry the eggplants until light brown (around 5 minutes, takes longer if you've sliced your eggplants thicker). Remove from heat. Tip: frying the eggplant brings its nice rich flavour.

2. In the same pan, add 1 tbsp vegetable oil. Stir-fry the onion until soft (around 3 minutes), garlic and chili (until garlic is light-brown). Note: garlic burns faster than onion so you should add the onion first. 

3. Add the eggplant and season with black pepper. Add the vinegar and soy-sauce, cover and let it simmer for around 5 minutes. You can remove the cover if you want your eggplant adobo to have less liquid. Some Filipinos prefer their adobo's dry and some to have more sauce (and top it on their rice). 

Serve warm with white rice.

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