Posted on 07/20/2022 10:41:58 AM PDT by mylife
Like a mother with her children, I have a hard time picking favorites when it comes to egg preparation methods. As my esteemed colleague Stephen Johnson has pointed out, cooking eggs can literally teach you how to cook. They truly give us so many gifts.
I’ve been on a bit of a scramble kick recently. I enjoy cooking scrambles because they take well to last minute tweaks and additions: You can dash and sprinkle them with a wide variety of sauces and seasonings, impulsively and without much measuring (my favorite style of cooking).
As you may know, I am a big fan of umami, and that enthusiasm been reflected in my most recent scrambles. Here are a few of the impulsive, last-minute, umami-boosting additions I’ve been playing around with.
Add onion powder for subtle savoriness On a lark, I added the last bit of onion powder from an almost empty jar, and was rewarded with deeply savory eggs, with lovely notes of toasted allium. The effect was delicious, but subtle enough to qualify as a “secret ingredient.” You, and anyone else you feed these eggs to, will notice that they taste better, but the yolk tempers the onion so it doesn’t scream “onion powder.” A pinch or two per egg is all you need (depending on how fresh your onion powder is, of course).
Add soy sauce for deep, rich saltiness Unlike onion powder, soy sauce isn’t subtle. It barges into your scramble screaming “UMAMI” and “SALT,” and honestly your eggs are the better for it. Just a splash adds dark saltiness and a touch of fermented umami that punctuates the richness of the egg. I prefer to do a low and slow scramble when soy sauce is involved; sometimes I add a little mirin for sweetness.
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been microwaving eggs in water for poached eggs- takes about 1 minute and roughly 20-40 seconds for runny but done- i do 1 minute, then 15 seconds more a few times till done so as to to overcook it- then some Texas Pete hot sauce, a few drops- and maybe a little grated cheese- plop it all on toast-
I use a dollop of cream cheese and chives. Exquisite.
Been there, been doing that and so much more....
A little Tony Chachere’s or Slap Yo Mama in the eggs before you scramble them and lots of Tabasco on top before eating.
Even better when you mix those into a nice bowl of buttered grits with plenty of salt and pepper and crumble up a couple of strips of bacon in the mix. Add in a big, buttered, cat-head biscut on the side and BOOM! Now THAT’s a breakfast.
Black (fermented) garlic. High umami component, with a more subtle garlic flavor than fresh or roasted garlic.
The last word in Umami is “Vegemite”.
Nuf said.
Yes, but the flavor component wasn’t recognized as having specific receptors for it on the tongue until recently.
I have 4 chickens and so eat eggs often. I recently started making shakshuka with them. Amazing dish with many variations. Kind of like a Middle Eastern (or Mediterranean) version of Huevos Rancheros.
If you use a fork to stir, I believe that's "French style".
You can do it many ways
-Adobo, chili oil
-Salsa
-Chorizo
-Ground country ham
-Smoked paprika
That mayo and cream sound right but I use plain yogurt sometimes. I am going to add that Marmite idea.
Fried eggs with tops sprinkled lightly with Slap Yo’ Momma seasoning.
Every day.
The food makes for a fine breakfast anywhere but the isolated camp site adds to the favor experience dramatically.
Yes. My brother-in-law called it that when he showed me.
MSG (the crack of umami), blue cheese, nori, fermented fish sauce
I have had mixed success with small curd scrambles. I don’t know if it’s my lack of skill or my lack of patience.
BTW, the large “sheets” of scrambled eggs I end up with are moist and quite soft, fluffy even. I think it’s all that milk fat.
I urge you to try Tamari. It's almost the same as soy sauce, only instead of a powerful punch of salt and soy, it's subtle and complex. Use it by itself as a soy sauce replacement, or blend it with mirin and sake for an incredible teriyaki base.
That’s what I grew up with. I’m a Loosiana boy.
My favorite scrambled eggs...
2 eggs a little half and half
Add some blue crab meat fried in bacon grease
salt and pepper to taste.
Living on the coast has advantages.
Thanks! Lots of great ideas here. I really like the Japanese mirin wine and melted anchovy ideas.
I’ve been experimenting with lots of different scrambled egg approaches the past year, so I look forward to trying these out.
Some of the great tips I’ve found and like a lot. I don’t do all of these at once, but mix and match as desired and depending on my impatience level.
1. Scramble three eggs and add a fourth egg yolk
2. Strain the scrambled eggs through a strainer to remove the stringy albumen
3. Add a starch slurry (tapioca and corn starch work well). Mix a bit of the starch with cold water to make the slurry and add to the eggs. I use about a quarter teaspoon per egg. It makes the eggs very silky.
4. Cut very cold butter into 1/4 inch cubes and toss into the scramble before cooking.
5. Add creme fraiche to the scramble before cooking or as it is cooking
6. Add freshly crushed salt (I use Himalayan pink salt) to the scrambled mixture and let it sit 15 minutes for the salt to dissolve.
7. Add freshly grated parmesan cheese. Interestingly, the article you posted leads to a discussion of MSG and it points out the same amino acid is present in parmesan cheese. It is what imparts a nutty flavor to the cheese.
8. Add freshly ground pepper.
Many decades ago, a girlfriend made me breakfast. She added a bit of sweet vermouth wine to the scrambled eggs and they were outstanding.
I quit adding milk to scrambled eggs a long time ago. My mom had taught me to add milk, but that always made them runny, but I kept making them that way because who fools around with what mom taught you? I kept reducing the amount of milk until I was down to a half eggshell full per egg, but I still didn’t like it. I eventually eliminated the milk entirely and find that the other dairy foods (cold butter, creme fraiche, parmesan) are far superior to milk.
I bought an air fryer last December and it is great for turning out quick bacon that is done to perfection to pair with the eggs.
Add a slice of Dave’s Killer Bread “White Bread Done Right” buttered toast to the eggs and bacon and you have heaven!
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