KINILAW NA TALONG (EGGPLANT SALAD)

As i mentioned in my Pinoy BBQ blog, vegetable salad is the perfect side dish for bbq. I personally love eggplant salad w/ my bbq and even w/ my fried fish.

This kind of salad could be prepared two ways, grilled or boiled. But i prefer my eggplants grilled especially when it's "grill season"- summer until fall, yeah i do push it for as long as it's not too cold for me. Altough, I still grill them on my stove top or broil them. Boiling is okay but you don't get the smokey flavor.

I suggest to use the Asian eggplants or the Sicilian eggplants for this salad. There will be no exact measurement to this recipe. It'll all be up to your taste and liking.

1. Poke some holes to the eggplant using a fork.
2. Grill them until skins will burn, keep turning around to make sure every skin are cooked or charred. Eggplants are cooked when they are soft.
3. Let them cool then start peeling off the charred skin making sure to take out those black particles from the charred skin.

4. Chop eggplants into cubes or shred them.
5. Add chopped tomatoes, sweet onions, scallions, garlic, ginger and Thai bird chili if you want it spicy and hot.

6. Add salt and vinegar, i like to use Datu Puti (Filipino Vinegar) or apple cider vinegar.
Serve with the bbq or fried fish.

PINOY BBQ (Filipino BBQ)

Pinoys (Filipinos) love their bbq anytime of the day. This could be served for breakfast or brunch served with sinangag (garlic fried rice) and a side of sunny side up eggs. For lunch this will be served with steamed white rice with a side of atchara (pickled vegetables). Dinner, it'll be most likely served w/ a vegetable salad such as kinilaw na talong at kamatis (Grilled eggplant with tomato salad) and ofcourse steamed white rice. This is also eaten as snacks and great w/ beer.

BBQ stands are ubiqitous in every street corner in the Philippines, one would wonder how are they able to sell their bbq. I remember back then...i went on a mission to taste all the bbqs one stand at a time and see which ones had the best bbq. And the conclusion?..Oh well, let's just say, i've yet to try a Pinoy BBQ that i don't like. You probably will ask what makes this BBQ, Pinoy/Filipino? what's the difference? It's the sweetness and the use of a "not so secret" ingredients. You'll see as you read the ingredients.

I make my marinade from scratch but lately i've been using Mama Sita's BBQ sauce mix, it saves me time and it's delicious as well. So, the next time you visit your Asian market, buy the mix and give it a try.



Ingedients:2-3 lbs. pork butt
Bamboo skewers or any kind of skewers


Ingredients for For Marinade:

1 C soy sauce
1 C 7-up or sprite (the not so secret ingredient)
6 calamansi * or 2 lemons (fresh lemon juice is best)*
1 whole garlic (minced)
3 T brown sugar (estimate only)
1 t freshly ground black pepper
Pinch of salt

*If you can't buy fresh calamansi you can buy frozen calamansi at any Asian store. Lemons can be used as a substitute but flavor profile will not be as authentic.


Ingredients For Basting:

Canola oil
Banana Ketchup (available at Asian stores, one of the not so secret ingredient)
soy sauce



1. If you will be using bamboo skewers, they need to be soaked for an hour to avoid burning while on the grill.

2. Cut pork in bite size cubes.

3. Combine and mix all the marinade ingredients. Taste and adjustments if needed .

4. Marinate the pork overnight or at least 2 hours.

5. Mix the basting ingredients and set it aside.

6. Skewer the meat, then start grilling.

7. Basting the meat every few minutes until cooked.

I served the bbq with steamed rice, eggplant tomato salad and soy sauce vinegar dipping sauce.