Tortang talong is one of the easiest Filipino dish to make. One variation of this dish that is also very popular is tortang talong with giniling. But what is tortang talong with giniling anyway? How do you say tortang talong with giniling in English?
Tortang talong with giniling means ‘eggplant and ground meat omelette’ in English. “Torta” means omelette in English, while “talong” means eggplant. “Giniling” is Tagalog for ground meat. When you put it all together, tortang talong with giniling literally means eggplant omelette with ground meat.
Curious for more tortang talong trivia? Keep reading!
What is Tortang Talong With Giniling in English?
To put it simply, tortang talong with giniling in English means eggplant omelette with ground meat. Here’s a breakdown of what each Tagalog word means:
| Tagalog Word | English Word |
| Torta | Omelette |
| Talong | Eggplant |
| Giniling | Ground Meat |
As you can see, the phrase tortang talong with giniling quite literally translates to eggplant omelette with ground meat.
Now that you know exactly what tortang talong with giniling means, you might be wondering what kind of ground meat is used for tortang talong with giniling? Well the answer is: it depends on what you like.
Typically, ground beef is used for tortang talong with giniling. However, any of the following types of ground meat can be used as well:
- Ground pork
- Ground chicken
- Ground Turkey
However, my personal preference is to use ground beef because I like the taste of it better. If you want something more lean, ground turkey is your best bet, although truthfully, the texture and taste of ground turkey tastes off to me, especially in tortang talong, so I rarely use this ingredient in my tortang talong.
If you want to learn how to make tortang talong with giniling, this recipe has a step by step guide so you can follow along and make the best tortang talong with the ground meat of your choice!
Other Questions I get about Tortang Talong:
What is Tortang Talong in English?
Tortang talong in English is eggplant omelette. It is made by grilling a whole eggplant until the skin is burnt and peels off easily, and then mashed with scrambled eggs before frying. The resulting dish is similar in texture to a spinach omelette, but the taste and aroma is quite different.
In my opinion, although the texture of the tortang talong closely resembles a spinach omelette, the taste and aroma of tortang talong is quite unique and very different from any Western food I’ve eaten. Tortang talong has a slightly sweet flavor, and the smoky roasted taste from grilling the eggplant with skin on is quite unique. In other words, it is quite different from any other popular Western dish, so if you have never had it before, make sure to give it a try! You can even use this recipe to try to make it yourself at home!
What is the Description of Tortang Talong?
Tortang talong is a Filipino dish that usually consists of an eggplant that has been grilled or roasted, then dipped in an egg and fried. The eggplant is usually peeled before it is cooked, but some recipes leave the skin on.
Tortang talong is often served with a dipping sauce, such as soy sauce or sweet and sour sauce. It can also be eaten plain or with rice.
It is a most popular Filipino dish that has quite an interesting history. It is very popular amongst Filipino and is the default ulam (main dish) if you’re feeling lazy and just want to be able to whip something up quickly.
I asked one of my closest friends who have moved hours away from her parents what her favorite Filipino dish is, and to my surprise, it is the humble tortang talong dish that she always craves from home. Every time she drives back to see her parents, she always requests her mom to make a whole batch of tortang talong for her to take home. Her mom diligently makes the tortang talong in batches so that her daughter can take it home to be eaten over the next couple of months. she can do this because tortang talong freezes so well!
Even though this dish is well loved by those that know about it and grew up eating it, did you know that it’s not the most popular Filipino dish? In fact, there are many Filipino communities abroad that don’t really know what tortang talong is, and I myself have witnessed Filipinos who are seasoned at cooking dishes like sinigang and nilaga, be amazed and surprised when they first taste tortang talong, because they have never seen or eaten anything like it before.
Do you need to peel an eggplant before cooking?
It is necessary to peel an eggplant before cooking it in tortang talong, however there are many different dishes, both in Filipino cuisine and other cultures, that benefit from keeping the skin on the eggplant while cooking to lock in the moisture.
Another question I often recieve is if it is absolute necessary to peel an eggplant before cooking. And truthfully, the answer is: it depends.
It depends on what you are cooking, and how you want to cook it. This post here has the seven most common Filipino dishes that uses eggplant, and some of the dishes on this list honestly doesn’t need to have the eggplant peeled.
Some of these dishes in fact is enhanced by the skin of the eggplant, either by keeping the eggplant intact, or by adding color to the dish.
Another example is if you are planning to pan fry eggplant by itself, which by the way is also a very popular way of eating eggplant in the Philippines. If you are planning on pan frying eggplant and eating it simply with rice, then it is recommended to keep the skin on, because Because keeping the skin on will help lock in the moisture and will allow you to have a juicy eggplant once it’s cooked.
However, if you want to cook eggplant specifically for tortang talong, then yes, it is absolutely necessary to peel the skin of the eggplant so that you can finely meld the flavor of the eggplant and the egg together.
By the way, if you want to be know how to cook eggplant for tortang talong without having to grill it, read this post here.