Grilled eggplant salad - Leyte style

Today I finally found time to go to the Baybay market. As Tuesdays and Saturdays are market days (tabo), there were lots of fresh
produce from the nearby villages -- native chicken, fern (pako), eggplants, banana heart (puso ng saging), green papaya, unripe jackfruit, sweetpotato, cassava, pineapple, pomelo, banana, among many others. The eggplants were newly harvested, shiny, tender, and cheap (P20/kilo) so I decided to cook eggplant salad, our Waray style, so I can take a photo and share the recipe with you. This dish, which goes very well with grilled fish, can quickly become a conversation piece among your dinner or lunch guests. It has never failed and it is highly likely that you will end up giving the recipe to them.

Like the Bicolanos, the Warays take pride in many of their dishes cooked in coconut milk. It takes a Waray to whip up a mean fish kinilaw or "apay" (gabi leaves with coconut milk). If you happen to be in Tacloban City, you can order this dish in Agus Restaurant. My Cebuano friends often ask, "How come there is no vinegar?" Why do you have to cook the coconut milk?" I tell them that vinegar is just not added to this salad and cooking the coconut milk prolongs the shelf life of the dish.

Here's the recipe:

8 long eggplants
1 big coconut, grated
1 inch ginger (or 2 tablespoons when finely chopped)
1 round onion, medium size
1 bunch green onions
2 red hot chili
½ tsp white pepper powder
½ tsp salt

In the market, ask the coconut grater to grate only the white part as you want a white coconut milk. This way, the brown surface of the coconut shell won't get mixed into the grated coconut. In your kitchen, grill 8 long eggplants. Peel and arrange on serving dish. Chop off the stem part of eggplant. Add ¼ cup water to grated coconut. Extract coconut milk. Simmer in skillet for 10 minutes, stirring constantly to prevent curdling. Season coconut milk with salt and white pepper powder. Set aside. Chop finely ginger, round onion, green onion and chili. Sprinkle on top of broiled eggplants. Pour boiled coconut cream into the eggplant salad.