Filipino Dinner For Two In 20 Minutes - ANYONE Can Cook This!

Pea teams up with Chef Lana, a culinary school graduate running her own catering business, to walk viewers through making tortang talong (eggplant omelette) — a staple Filipino dish that's cheap, fast, and dead simple. The video is aimed at foreign men in the Philippines who want to impress their Filipina partner or just learn to feed themselves, with every step explained for total beginners.

The dish: Tortang Talong (Eggplant Omelette) ​

• A Filipino staple eaten at breakfast, lunch, or dinner — always with rice
• Can be vegetarian or made with various meats added
• Chef Lana confirms it's so common in Filipino households that she grows her own eggplants at home organically because it's cheaper than buying them at the market

Ingredients (extremely minimal) ​

• Two eggplants
• Four eggs (two for the dish, two as backup in case of bad eggs)
• Pinch of salt (iodized)
• Pinch of black pepper
• 1/4 cup of cooking oil
• That's literally it

Cost breakdown ​

• Two eggplants at farm gate price: about 30 pesos
• Eggs at market price: about 10 pesos each (farm gate is only 6 pesos)
• Total cost for a meal for two: roughly 40–50 pesos (under $1 USD)
• Pea contrasts this with US prices where an egg foo young lunch special runs about $10

Step-by-step cooking process ​

• Poke the eggplants with a fork — if you skip this, they explode on the grill and can splash hot juice on your face (Chef Lana confirms she's had this happen)
• Grill the eggplants — takes less than 10 minutes, rotate periodically, goal is to blacken the outside completely; the smoky aroma of toasted talong is a beloved part of the dish
• While grilling, prepare the eggs — crack each egg into a separate bowl first to check for bad eggs (if it's murky, toss it); beat with a fork
• Season the eggs — just a pinch of salt and pepper, don't overdo the salt
• Peel the blackened skin off the grilled eggplant — it removes easily
• Smash the eggplant flat — press it gently with a fork to widen it without separating the meat from the stem
• Coat the flattened eggplant in beaten egg — "bathe it" on both sides
• Heat the pan until very hot ("like it's really burning in hell") — this is key so the egg stays juicy and doesn't dry out
• Fry in oil — about 1–2 minutes per side until brown; optionally add more salt and pepper while cooking
• Chef Lana removes the stem before frying for safety, though some people hold it to flip

Plating and presentation ​

• Chef Lana demonstrates restaurant-style plating: rice visible (not buried under the eggplant — "your Filipina would want to see the rice"), garnished with scallions, parsley, cilantro, and tomato slices
• All garnishes are optional — most Filipinos just eat it with rice and dip in soy sauce
• Pea adds crispy garlic bits as an optional topping
• Pea's plating attempt: eggplant with tomato slices, cucumber, scallions, parsley, cilantro, and garlic bits

Cultural notes and banter ​

• Pea compares tortang talong to American egg foo young (Chinese-American dish with shrimp or pork) — Filipinos call their version "torta" as well
• Can substitute eggplant for lasagna pasta sheets for a creative twist
• The dish works for vegans
• Chef Lana scolds Pea about the "salt pinch thingy" (licking fingers while cooking) — calls it "very unethical inside the kitchen"
• Pea's pitch: add a candle in the middle and you've got a romantic dinner — cheap, healthy, and under 20 minutes
• Chef Lana's closing point: Filipinas genuinely appreciate when foreigners try to speak their language or cook their food — it shows effort and respect

Pea's humor throughout ​

• Apologizes to the eggplant while poking it: "Sorry talong, I have to poke some holes"
• Multiple innuendos about juice, smashing, and squirting that both she and Chef Lana play off each other
• "If her Filipina babe is in the US, this dish will definitely send the girl back here in the Philippines" — Chef Lana thought Pea meant something else entirely
• Asks Chef Lana if she sings to her plants; Chef Lana says her love language is eating them

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