Tortang Talong with XO Sauce
Rhoda created this dish for Top Chef ™ Season 23. A toast to her very first food memory, this Filipino grilled-eggplant omelette from her winning Episode 14 finale balances a crisp, lacy fried edge against a soft, creamy interior, finished with a textured lap cheong XO of Chinese sausage, dried shrimp and conpoy. Caramelised pork belly and a small banana-ketchup gastrique round out a course the judges called soft, perfectly fried and delicious. This Fix-It reconstruction preserves those praised elements while correcting the two faults the judges named - a soggy interior and an over-blended XO.
- Time: 90 min
Source: Relaxed Recipes
Ingredients
- FOR THE CHARRED EGGPLANT
- large Asian eggplants , or 4 slim Japanese eggplants
- fine sea salt, for degorging
- FOR THE LAP CHEONG XO SAUCE
- neutral oil
- links lap cheong , finely diced
- garlic cloves, minced
- shallots, minced
- fresh red chillies, minced, to taste
- dried shrimp, soaked 15 minutes and chopped
- dried scallops , soaked and shredded - optional but traditional
- oyster sauce
- fish sauce
- sugar, to balance the salt
- FOR THE PORK BELLY
- pork belly, skin off, sliced thin
- soy sauce
- Shaoxing wine, or dry sherry
- sugar
- garlic cloves, crushed
- FOR THE BANANA-KETCHUP GASTRIQUE
- banana ketchup
- rice vinegar
- brown sugar
- FOR THE OMELETTE
- large eggs, beaten
- fine sea salt
- of white pepper
- neutral oil, for shallow frying
- TO FINISH
- spring onions, thinly sliced
- Few sprigs of coriander
- Flaky sea salt, to finish
- EQUIPMENT: Gas burner, grill or broiler ; heavy non-stick or well-seasoned fryin