Tortang talong or eggplant omelet (or frittata, if you prefer to cook it a bit differently), is one of those Filipino classics that is considered by many to be the ultimate comfort food. It’s easy to prepare, it’s inexpensive and cooking it doesn’t require any special tools and equipment. The traditional tortang talong is either meatless or contains ground pork but I’ve gone beyond the traditional in so many ways. I’ve cooked tortang talong with a pig’s brain filling and and even with a sisig filling, and I’ve even tried baking it for a less oily result. Earlier this week, I found another great way to cook tortang talong — with flaked crab meat.
You can buy live crabs, steam, broil or grill them then crack the shells and pick and flake the meat. Or you can buy prepared crab meat. Note that commercially available frozen crab meat comes in different textures and qualities. I prefer the chilled kind sold in the fresh seafood section of supermarkets — hand flaked right in the supermarket rather than in some faraway factory. SM Hypermarket (beside Tiendesitas) sells this kind of crab meat.
They come in pre-weighed trays, the meat is flaked rather than shredded so that the pieces are large enough to give a real crab texture to the cooked dish.
This recipe makes two eggplant omelets.
Ingredients:
300 g. of crab meat
a bunch of onion leaves, cut into half-inch lengths
1 egg
salt
pepper
2 eggplants, cooked (boiled, steamed, broiled or grilled)
cooking oil for frying
Place the crab meat in a bowl. Add the onion leaves. Season with salt and pepper. Add the egg and stir.
Peel the eggplants by pulling off the skins.
Make a shallow vertical slit to open the eggplant then press the flesh lightly with a fork to spread it out to make the base of the torta.
Spoon the prepare filling on the eggplant.
Press down and pat to make the filling compact.
Heat the cooking oil in a frying pan (this isn’t deep frying so you don’t really need too much oil) and slide an eggplant into the pan. Cook over medium high heat just until the bottom is firm enough to lift. You can do this by lifting a portion with a spatula. If it feels firm enough, flip over too cook the top side. Repeat for the other eggplant.
My tortang alimasag at talong were a bit too brown along the edges but they were delicious anyway. I only ate a tablespoonful because of an allergy but, at least, I did manage to enjoy what I cooked. 
ay!!! sayang kinain ko na crab meat kahapon. next time try ko rin yan. Ms. connie may recipe ka rin ba ng crab cake?
I’m not sure what you mean by crab cake.
crab cake parang crab patties not sure pero my hubby likes it kaya lang puro extenders naman konti lang un crab meat.
Try flaked crab meat with mashed potatoes. Pan fry until edges are crisp.
Thanks Ms. Connie:))
Ahh dapat pala mag-slit muna ko para malinis ang labas nang tortang talong.
I love tortang talong but I can’t make it often because of thyroid problems.
Will use this recipe
BTW I’m expecting your book in June he he
I hope the shipping cost wasn’t so bad.
In some parts of Malaysia, the local delicacy is crab meat omlette with chopped carrots and some shallots stuffed into the shell of a crab. It’s then baked. Tastes great with chili sauce!
Hi Miss Connie,
Where could I find your book? Leading bookstore perhaps? And what’s the title, or do you have ur picture as the book cover? Hehe just don’t wanna get hard times looking for it, im excited!
It’s available online from Tastebook. Print on demand.
wow!!!yong crab omelet ninyo can be imitation crab instead kc here in hawaii hardly we get a fresh or live crab. i cant wait to try it na
i love crabmeat torta too!!
So happy to have found your website. I visited the Philippines in April 2010 and I keep trying to recreate many of the delicious dishes made for me. Tortang talong was one of the first I tried to make and nearly burnt down our home trying it cook the eggplant over our gas stove. I have gotten much better at it and found small eggplants that work much better.
oh my goodness, may cookbook ka pala ms. connie. i want to order. you said on line from tastebook. is that the website. pls. give me the complete website. wala ba in any bookstore so i can ask my nephew to buy me one. na-excited ako bigla nyan!
I’m in the process of revising it so I really don’t recommend that you order one right now.
today, i cooked that baked chicken of yours ms. connie, with fresh herbs and fruit jam (i used the kumquat jam i made). nagustuhan ng hubby ko but i forgot to remove the chicken skin kaya medyo oily. but it turned out really good. i baked 5 lbs. of chicken and there were just few pcs. left. hmmm…ano kaya ang isusunod ko.