Ginataang Talong at Okra

Eggplant And Okra In Coconut Milk

Ingredients:

• 4 to 6 Japanese eggplants cut in chunks
• A few whole okra, fresh or frozen or omitted
• 1 jalapeno pepper (optional)
• ¼ tsp. red chili flakes
• Onion, minced (about 3/4 cup)
• 2 cloves garlic minced
• 1 can coconut milk
• 2 strips bacon cut in small pieces OR half a bag of Cracklins crushed in small pieces (use a food processor or chopper)
• Salt and pepper

If using bacon, render the bacon fat in a skillet and fry the bacon in its own fat until brown.  Add the garlic and onions and sauté until onions are transparent.

(If using Cracklins, sauté the garlic and onions in a small amount of cooking oil until the onions are transparent and soft. Add the Cracklins and stir for a few minutes.)

Add the coconut milk then add the eggplants and the jalapeno pepper.  Boil then simmer until the eggplants are cooked stirring occasionally.  Add the okra last and cook until the okra is tender. 

Season with salt and pepper or patis.

Eat with rice.  Bagoong is a good accompaniment as dip. 

You can use this recipe for any vegetable combination of your choice. Good with yellow squash like kabocha.

 Cracklins are fried out pork with skin attached, usually cut in small pieces packaged in a small plastic bag called “Cracklin Curls”.  It is also known as “Chicharones” but they are cut in small pieces with fat attached to the skin.